Welcome To Baja California
by Breaking.Free.101
Summary: Gabriella signs up to work at a summerlong camp in Baja California. Everything seems fine until the person she least wants to see shows up. REVIEW! NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: I Promise, I'll Be Fine...

"Now if you don't like working at that camp, you come straight home." My mom told me as I packed.

"Mom, I promise, I'll be fine." I reassured her as I walked around my six room house in Los Angeles, California. Mom was sitting on the couch as I piled clothes into the three suitcases that were laying on the floor in my living room.

"I'll be back on August 31." I said, throwing a pair of sneakers into the suitcase. "And once again, I promise, everything will be fine."

"Gabriella, I'm just worried," Mom said. "You're spending three months in Baja California, working at this camp where you won't know anyone."

"I'll be fine." I said again for what felt like the five-millionth time that day. "Don't worry."

"Do you know what you'll be doing?" she asked, picked up a pair of jean shorts that were thrown on the couch, and folded them.

"They sent me a handbook." I told her. "Here." I handed her a light blue paperback book.

"Camp Baja Cali Style?" She asked as she read the front of the book, and then started flipping through the book.

"That's what it's called." I replied and put a stack of shorts into the suitcase. I walked into my bathroom.

"The counselors' have great views." She called to me.

"I know!" I called back to her. "It looks beautiful!" I pushed the make-up lying on the marble counter into my Coach make-up bag.

"Do you get any free days?" She asked as I walked back into the living room.

"Yeah." I said, throwing the bag into the already overflowing suitcase. "We get a week in July because the kids get to fly home to see their families for a couple days. But the counselors have to stay."

"Oh." She said. I could tell that she was sad.

"Mom, don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll write and I'll use the phone." I said to her.

"Sorry, I'm just a little over protective of you." She said. "I'll calm down."

"Thank you." I said. I placed the handbook and a folder on top of the clothes.

That night, Mom and I fell asleep on the couch.

When I woke up around 2 o'clock in the morning, Mom was sleeping, covered in a navy fleece blanket. I readjusted the pillow beneath my head and slowly drifted back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Leaving Los Angeles

Los Angeles International Airport was packed with people when Mom and I walked through the sliding glass doors the next day.

"Bye Mom." I said and hugged her when we found my gate.

"Bye Gabriella." She said and hugged me back. "Be safe okay?"

"I will." I said to her. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She replied. I noticed that her eyes were full of tears.

"I gotta go." I said to her. "I'll call you when I get there, okay?"

"Okay, baby." She said. "Have fun." I hugged her again and walked through the door leading to the plane.

As I boarded the plane, I felt my phone vibrate inside my Louis Vuitton messenger bag. I quickly pulled out my Sidekick III. Sharpay Evan's name blinked across the screen.

"Hello?" I said after pressing the call button.

"Hey Gab!" Sharpay's voice said happily on the other side of the line.

"Hey Shar!" I replied. "Whatcha need?"

"Listen, I know that you're leaving for that camp today, but do you still have my brown, rounded toe heels?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." I replied. "There in the closet in my room. I'm getting on the plane right now, but use your key, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks Gabby." She replied. "Have fun in Baja!"

"Okay, I will. Bye!" I said and hung up. I turned my phone off and looked at my ticket.

FIRST CLASS R15 SA WINDOW

I found my seat and waited for take-off.

When the plane landed, I got my luggage and walked into the main terminal. I looked around until I finally spotted someone holding up a sign with my name on it. I put a smile on my face and pushed my luggage cart over to the lady.

"Hi!" I said, cheerfully.

"Hi!" said the lady holding the sign. "I'm Charlotte Burke, I direct the camp here in Baja. Nice to meet you." She shook my hand. I looked her over. She had long, board straight, bright red hair and bangs, and tanned skin. She had deep, emerald green eyes.

"Nice to meet you, too." I replied. She led me out into the hot sunshine and over to a brightly colored van. We got in and pulled out onto the highway. On the way to the camp, she started explaining the camp to me.

"You'll have 12 kids in your group," She told me, " 6 girls and 6 boys. So you'll team up with a guy and he'll be in charger of the boys' cabin."

"Okay," I said, "that shouldn't be to hard."

"Great!" she replied. "Ah, here we are." She pulled the van through a brightly colored stone arch.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Welcome To Baja California!

"Welcome to Baja California, Gabriella." Charlotte said as she drove down a dirt road..

I opened the door to the van and stepped outside. The camp was right on the beach.

"This will be your cabin." Charlotte told me and pointed to the light blue cabin in front of us. "The one right next to yours is your partner's."

"Okay." I replied. Charlotte pointed towards the other two light blue cabins that were a little way down the dirt road,

"Those," She said, "Are the campers' cabins. The boys don't go in the girls', and the girls don't go in the boys'. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." I said.

"Now, when your campers get here tomorrow, you can all brainstorm and come up with a team name and chant to perform at the evening assembly on the beach tomorrow night starting at six-thirty." She said. I nodded as she handed me a medium sized card-board box. "These are your campers' camp t-shirts. They need to wear them to the assembly tomorrow night."

"Gotcha." I said.

"Thank you." She replied. "You don't know how many times I've had to say that today."

"I can imagine." I said, and laughed.

"I'm off to the airport again." She said. "See you later." She hopped back into the van and sped off down the dirt road once again. I picked up my bags and walked into the cabin.

I looked around in amazement. The view from the cabin was breath-taking! It was a very quaint two room cabin-a main room and a bathroom- with walls splashed a light blue like the outside of the cabin. There was a closet on the wall beside the door that went into the bathroom and a full sized bed pushed under a large screen window. Directly opposite of the window was another large window that looked at the golden sand and beautiful blue ocean.

I put one of my three suitcases on the bare mattress and opened it. I opened the closet and started hanging up the shirts that were piled up and folded in my suitcase. In the process, I turned on the ceiling fan and peeled off my jeans and pale green three-quarter length Ralph Lauren shirt. I changed into a pair of light blue Soffee shorts and a white cami that showed a good three inches of my tanned stomach. I pulled my long, wavy black hair off my neck and into a ponytail.

After unpacking all of my clothes and stuffing the two suitcases under the bed, I opened the last suitcase on the floor. I pulled out a set of bright blue Egyptian cotton sheets and put them on the mattress. I pulled out a soft white eyelet light quilt that my mom had bought me for the trip and set it at the foot of the bed. I set a picture frame on the bedside table. The picture was of me and all my friends. The picture had been taken at our high school graduation. We all donned red graduation gowns and caps with a silver tassel on them. I looked at the faces of Chad Danforth, Taylor McKessie, Troy Bolton, myself, Ryan Evans, and Sharpay Evans. Our arms were around each other and we all looked so happy. I took out two more pictures and two sets of white curtains out of the suitcase and set them on the bed. I hung one set of the curtains on the window above my bed and started to hang up the other set.

As I hung them up, someone knocked on my door. I turned around and saw Charlotte standing there.

"Hi!" I exclaimed and walked over to my screen door. "Whatcha need?"  
"I have brought your partner for you to meet." She said with a big smile on her face.

"Great!" I exclaimed and walked outside. Standing on my porch was none other than Troy Bolton.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Meet Your Partner, Troy Bolton

I felt my throat go dry. Troy was standing in front of me. He looked the same as he had since the last time I saw him at Christmas two years ago.

"Gabriella," Charlotte said, "Meet your partner, Troy Bolton."

"Hi Troy." I said.

"Hi Gabs." He said in the same astonished tone.

"You two know each other?" Charlotte asked.

"We've met." I said coldly.

"That's great!" She exclaimed. "Gabriella, could you tell Troy about the team stuff?"

I nodded.

"Okay!" She said happily. "See you two later!" She walked off the porch and got into the van and once again drove off towards the airport.

"I don't believe it." I said coldly and walked into my cabin, leaving Troy standing on the porch.

He followed me.

"Don't believe what?" he asked.

"This, Troy!" I almost yelled at him.

"How was I supposed to know that when I signed up to work here that you would be here, too?!" He yelled back.

"I don't know." I snapped back.

"Well I don't know either!" Troy yelled.

"Troy," I said. I couldn't say anything else. I sat down on the bed and fell back.

"This is just so weird!" I exclaimed. I watched the fan turn around and around and around on the ceiling. "We haven't actually seen each other for almost three years, Troy. And all of a sudden, I walk outside and there you are!" I felt Troy sit down on the bed beside me.

"And you think that I think this is perfectly normal?" He asked. "Do you think that I was expecting you to be here?"

"No." I said.

"Gab, I think we can do this." He said. I sat up.

"I don't think we have a choice." I replied.

"Yeah," He said and laughed. "You're right."

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked.

"Bright and early." He replied, smiling. He got up and started to walk out the door. He stopped as he opened the door. He turned and said to me,

"I missed you, Gab." I felt myself blush. He walked out the door. I sat on the bed.

"Troy!" I yelled and ran after him. He was walking down the steps. He looked back at me.

"I missed you, too." I told him. He smiled as his blue eyes twinkled.

Later that night, as I got ready for bed, I picked up the last two picture frames that I had left laying on the small desk. The first one was a 6 by 8 sized picture. It was of me and Troy at our senior prom. Sharpay had taken the picture. We were sitting at a table, his arm around me, and our cheeks almost touching we were so close. I was in a navy, bandeau top dress and Troy was in a black tux. My hair was pulled back in a fancy up-do and loose ringlets framed my face and fell around my diamond chandelier earrings. I put that picture on one side of the desk and picked up the other. The other was another large (8x10) photo. I smiled as I looked at it. It was of course, another picture of everyone that I had never gotten ride of. This one was taken on a school ski trip one year. We were outside and snow was in our hair and on our clothes. Once again, we were smiling and looked SO happy. I pulled off my clothes so I was only in my bra and underwear and climbed under the sheet and quilt.

I fell asleep thinking of Troy Bolton...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Rise And Shine!

The first thing I heard the next morning was a siren from a blow horn. I immediately woke up.

"Troy!" I exclaimed, pulled the covers up to my shoulders, and then sat up. Troy Bolton was standing at the end of my bed holding a blow horn, grinning.

"Good morning!" He said. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was 5:30 in the morning. "Rise and shine!"

"Troy," I said. "Get out!"

"Why?" He asked with a mischievous grin on his face.

"It's 5:30 in the morning, crazy." I said.

"I know." He said. "Time to get up!"

"I deserve at least one more hour of sleep." I replied and laid back down. He blew the blow horn again. I sat up again.

"Fine!" I said. "I'm up. Go wait on the porch. I'm not ready."

"Fine!" He said and blew the blow horn again.

"Out!" I yelled and pointed at the door.

"I'm going, I'm going." He said and walked outside, snickering. I slowly got up and walked into the bathroom. I showered and then started getting dressed. I pulled on a pair of short jean shorts and our team's light blue camp t-shirt. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and applied my make-up.

When I walked out onto the porch, it was only 6:30. Troy was sitting on the porch in his light blue camp t-shirt and khaki shorts. I sat down beside him and tied my sneakers.

"Ready!" I exclaimed.

"Took you long enough!" Troy said.

"People don't really move that fast this early in the morning." I told him.

"Well, I was getting you back for sort of blowing up at me yesterday." He said, smiling.

"I'm sorry." I said. "I guess I was just a little freaked out and confused."

"You're always confused." He said.

"Am not." I replied.

"Are too!" He said back.

"Fine." I said. "I'm hungry."

"Me too." Troy replied. "Let's go."

We got up and walked over to the dining hall. The smell of scrambled eggs and toast wafted over to us as we entered to hall. Troy and I each grabbed a tray and a plate and walked through the buffet line. I spooned a small amount of scrambled eggs and a piece of toast onto my plate and found a table that overlooked the ocean.

"Mind if I sit here?" Troy asked.

"Would it matter if I said you couldn't sit here?" I asked.

"No." He replied and sat down. I gaped at his plate. It was absolutely piled with food.

"Are you going to eat all that?" I asked him.

"Yep!" He replied with a full mouth.

"Okay." I replied and took a sip of the coffee that was on my tray. A few minutes later, Charlotte stood up in front of all the counselors that had gathered in the dining hall.

"Okay!" She yelled. "Campers arrive in 2 hours! Come see me for rosters and schedules!" I looked back at Troy whose food had disappeared.

"Let's go." I said and we walked over to Charlotte. She had taken a seat behind a table. She looked at us and said,

"Bolton and Montez. Let's see. Here we are!" She handed us a two wooden clipboards. We walked away and back outside. I handed Troy his clipboard and started flipping through mine.

"Look," Troy said. "We have Messy Olympics tomorrow. It says to wear clothes that can be ruined. I wonder what we'll be doing."

"I really DON'T want to know." I replied as we came up on my cabin. "You want to come inside?"

"You going to kick me out again?" he asked.

"Maybe." I said and we walked inside.

When we walked inside, Troy plopped down in the chair beside the desk. I turned on the fan and sat down on the bed. He noticed the picture of us at prom and picked it up.

"You still have this?" He asked, looking at it.

"I guess I just couldn't get rid of it." I replied. "Remember when Sharpay gave one to each of us at the graduation party for all six of us?"

"Yeah." He said and laughed. I stood up, walked over to him, and took the picture from him.

"I remember that Chad spilled that red punch all down his shirt before his picture and Taylor was running around trying to find wipes and one of those Tide-To-Go things." I said.

"Oh yeah!" Troy replied. "That was funny!"

For the next hour and a half, we talked about high school...


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Meet The Team!

"You ready to meet everyone?" I asked him and looked at the Chanel watch on my wrist. "We've got about thirty minutes until the bus full of teenagers arrives."

"Ready as I'll ever be." Troy said and we stood up. I grabbed my Gucci aviator sunglasses, and put them on as we walked out the door.

As we walked over to the main field, I played with the silver band on my left ring finger. The ring was Troy's. He had given it to me the opening night of the Twinkle Towne Musical. He told me to never take it off, and I hadn't since.

"Here we are." I said as we came upon the field where the other groups of counselors stood.

"You ready for this?" Troy asked.

"Yep!" I replied.

When the brightly colored bus pulled through the gate and stopped, seventy-two teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17, poured off the bus. Charlotte stepped up and put a bullhorn to her mouth.

"Find your name on the bulletin board, and join your team." She yelled. "On your way to your team, find your bag or bags from the luggage van."

One by one, the twelve teenagers made their way over to Troy and me. They each carried at least two duffel bags. As they joined the group, they checked in with either me or Troy.

"Is everyone here?" Troy asked.

"I think so." I replied. "Let me count." I quickly counted 12 heads and said. "Yep!"

"Well, let's go." Troy said. "Follow me." All 14 of us turned around and we walked towards the boys' and girls' cabins. When we reached the section in-between the two cabins, we stopped and I started talking.

"Okay, these are your cabins, guys on my right and girls on my left. Guys aren't allowed in the girls' cabin and girls aren't allowed in the guys' cabin. Breakfast starts every morning at six and ends at seven-thirty. Lunch is at one thirty, and dinner at eight-thirty. Evening assembly is once a week, Fridays, and it starts at nine-thirty. Troy?"

"We have opening assembly tonight on the beach starting at six-thirty and ending at ten tonight." Troy began. "We have to come up with a team name and a chant to perform tonight. And we have to come up with a t-shirt design for our team t-shirts that we'll get."

"Go put your stuff down on your bunk and meet us out here in ten minutes." I said and they all walked into their cabins.

"Cheerful bunch of kids." I said to Troy.

"Yep." He replied.

When they had all walked back outside, we walked to the grass behind the cabins and made a circle. The guys sat on one side and the girls sat on the other.

"So!" I said. "Um, how about we play a little game to get to know each other? So you have to stand up, say your name, age, and two interesting things about yourself. Troy, why don't you go first?"

"Okay." Troy replied and stood up. "My name is Troy Bolton, I'm 21, I play basketball at Duke, and I sang in musicals in high school." I stood up as he sat down.

"My name is Gabriella Montez, I'm 21, I am an acting major at UCLA, and I just signed a recording and acting contract with BAM USA." I sat down as a small girl with blonde hair stood up.

"My name is Blair Carlton, I'm 17 years old, I act in community theater, and I play soccer." She sat down and a red head stood up.

"My name is Kelly Johansen, I'm 16, I like pizza, and I play tennis."

It went on for about 30 more minutes.

After we had come up with our team chant, Troy and I dismissed them to their cabins with instructions to meet at my cabin in an hour for the opening assembly, we walked to my cabin in an uncomfortable silence.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Troy's News...Good or Bad?

When Troy and I walked inside my cabin, he finally broke the silence.

"So," He began. "I've been meaning to ask you...what do you think about living in Los Angeles?"

"I love living in LA." I replied. "I mean, I liked Albuquerque and all, but I love the busy lifestyle of LA. For example, everywhere you go, something is always going on. Why?"

"Well, my basketball coach got me and Chad a tryout for the LA Lakers the week that the kids go visit at home." Troy told me.

"Troy that's amazing!" I exclaimed.

"I know!" He said with happiness and excitement visible in his eyes. "This is mine and Chad's dream! I mean to play for the Lakers! I never thought that this could actually happen to me."

"Troy, you don't have to worry about not making it." I said and placed a hand on his tanned arms. "You are the best basketball player I have ever seen! And those reporters at the Duke Basketball games are always raving about you and Chad!"

"I know, but— Wait! Did you just say that the reporters at the basketball games?" He asked. "How would you know that?" I felt myself blush.

"Well, maybe I've been watching a few of Duke's games." I said. "Just to see what you've been doing."

Troy smiled one of his mischievous smiles.

"So, you're positive that I'll make the team, and so will Chad?" He asked, biting his bottom lip.

"You've gotten better than you were in high school, Troy." I told him. "And so has Chad."

"Thank you." He said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For this." He replied. "Before this, I wasn't sure that I was actually going to tryout."

"Well then," I replied, smiling, "you're very welcome, Troy Bolton."

All of sudden, Troy had surrounded me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back.

When we pulled away, I stood up and walked over to my closet.

"I'm going to change." I told him. "You going to?"

"Yeah." He replied. "I'll be right back." I watched him get up and walk out of my cabin. I smiled to myself as I pulled on a red string bikini.

As I pulled on a pair of very short, light-washed cut off shorts, Troy walked back into my cabin.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Almost." I replied and pulled a white tank top that showed about 4 inches of my stomach over my bikini top. I quickly put my team t-shirt in my book bag and we walked outside.

Then, one by one, the campers made their way to where Troy and I stood on my cabin's porch.

"Let's go!" Troy said to everyone and we started making our way down to the beach.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Volleyball and TEAM WILDCATS!!

The warm sand flipped up into my flip flops as Troy and I led our team onto the beach. A volleyball net, stage, and a DJ and band was set up.

When all the teams had shown up, Charlotte walked up onto the stage.

"Okay!" She said into a mic. "We need to here all the chants and team names! Light blue! You're first!" We all walked in front of the stage. Charlotte handed me the mic.

"Oh," I said, looking at all the people in front of me. "Okay, we're the Wildcats and here's our chant." I handed the mic back to Charlotte. Troy started the chant.

"What Team?!" He yelled.

"Wildcats!" We yelled back.

"What team?!" He yelled again.

"Wildcats!" We yelled back again.

"What team?!" Troy yelled once more.

"Wildcats!" We replied.

"Wildcats!" He yelled. We all replied by yelling.

"Getcha head in the game!"

As the camp clapped, we sat down in the sand, Troy beside me. We watched as the other teams stood up and led their chants. By the end, the other five teams were called: Tacos, Bananas, Albino Llamas, Flames, and Smurfs.

"Okay! Volleyball time!" Charlotte yelled. "Wildcats verses Tacos!" Troy stood up and held out his hand to help me up.

"Thanks" I replied and we walked to one side of the net.

"I'll serve!" Troy called and ran to the serving line.

"Be my guest." I told him as I pulled off my tank top to show my bikini top. I pushed my hair out of my face as the volleyball went soaring over the net.

"Got it!" One of our campers, Colton yelled as the ball flew back towards our side. I watched as he jumped up and spiked the ball.

"One point, Wildcats!" Charlotte yelled from the sidelines. We cheered and got ready once more.

We ended up winning that game, but losing the next.

"We tried." Troy said and put his muscular arm around my shoulders.

"That was fun." I replied and picked up my tank top that was sitting on top of my book bag.

"So," I began. "How does it feel to be captain of the Wildcats again?"

"Perfect!" Troy said. "I loved them then, and I still love them now."

For a while, Troy and I walked up and down the waterfront, sometimes watching the ongoing volleyball games or the many groups of campers talking and playing mini football games. The cool water lapped across my bare feet as Troy and I stood in the water and looked at the sun sinking slowly behind the horizon. Troy's arms were still draped across my shoulders.

"This is so beautiful." I said mostly to myself.

"Yeah," Troy said. "You are." I looked up at him. His blue eyes bore into me and made my legs feel like rubber just like they had in high school. I felt myself blush and quickly looked away. The sun had almost disappeared when I looked over the bright blue water. I wrapped my arms around Troy's waist and let my head rest on his chest.

_FLASHBACK_

_"Troy, where are we going?" I asked him as we drove through town._

_"You'll see." he said and pulled into the deserted parking lot of East High._

_"What are we doing here?" I asked._

_"I left something in the locker room." Troy said and took my hand._

_"You don't have a key to the gym." I said as we walked towards the front door of the gym._

_Troy didn't reply. He opened the door and we walked in._

_"SURPRISE!!" The lights turned on and I gasped. The whole gym was full of people. A banner hung across one of the goals and said: HAPPY 18__TH__ BIRTHDAY GABRIELLA!!_

_"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed. "This is amazing! Thank you guys!" Chad Danforth stepped out from the crowd._

_"Don't thank us," He said. "It was all Troy's idea."_

_I turned to Troy._

_"Thank you!" I told him. His blue eyes twinkled._

_"You're welcome, Gabs." He replied. "Happy birthday!" He leaned down and kissed me._

_END FLASHBACK_

I smiled to myself as I thought about that night.

"What are you thinking about?" Troy asked me.

"How'd you know I was thinking about something?" I asked.

"I can tell." He said. "What are you thinking about?"

"That surprise party you gave me on my 18th birthday." I told him. "You remember that?"

"How could I forget?" He replied. "Come on, let's go eat."

"Okay." I replied.

We walked back towards the stage with our arms still wrapped around each other.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Kelsi's Big Break

The table was full of food. It was covered with plates of hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, sweets, and bottles of ketchup and mustard. I watched in amazement as Troy and another of the male counselors piled their plates high of food. I grabbed a Diet Coke from the cooler and walked over to my book bag. I pulled a beach towel out of it and with the help of one of Troy's campers, laid it out on the sand. Troy came to sit by me and immediately started eating his food.

"How can you eat that much?" I asked him.

"Easy." He said and dug back into his plate of food. The lights from the stage gave the dark night a comfortable glow. Couples of campers started dancing to the songs that the DJ was playing as I took our trash to the trash can near the table.

As I walked back towards where Troy and I had been sitting, one of the other counselors, Trish, walked over to me.

"Gabriella!" She called.

"Yeah?" I asked and turned to face her.

"We're trying to get a karaoke contest going, you think that you might be able to help pick out some of the music?" She asked.

"Sure!" I replied. "I can do some right now."

"Great!" She exclaimed. "Follow me."

We walked around to the side of the stage and stopped in front of a large case full of karaoke CD's.

"Just start looking through until you find something good." Trish directed. I started flipping through the CD's.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed and picked up CD case.

"What?" Trish asked.

"Look at this!" I said and held the CD up for her to see.

"Yeah, it's Kelsi Nielson. Why?" She said.

"I know her." I said and looked at the cover of the CD. Leaning against a piano in dark-washed jeans, a bright blue kimono top, and silver stilettos was Kelsi. Her brown hair was now around her shoulders in loose waves and her blue eyes shown. I turned the CD around. I gaped at some of the track listings.

BREAKING FREE

WHAT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR

MUSIC IN ME

START OF SOMETHING NEW

"Wow," I said. "Congratulations Kelsi!"

I started humming "Breaking Free" to myself.

"How do you know these songs?" Trish asked me.

"Kelsi composed the musicals that I was in during high school." I said.

"You sang in musicals in high school?" She asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "Kelsi was one of my first friends at East High. She helped me practice."

"If you went to East High," Trish began, "that means that Troy Bolton and Chad Danforth went to your school, right?"

"Guilty." I said shyly.

"Did you know them well?" She asked.

"We ran into each other a few times." I said. "Would you excuse me?"

"Yeah." She said. "Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome!" I replied and quickly walked back to where Troy was sitting.

"Where were you?" He asked as I sat down.

"Trish asked me to help pick out music for the karaoke contest." I told him.

"Karaoke contests never turn out well when I'm around." He said.

"It did that one time." I reminded him.

"Oh yeah!" He said smiling. "I met an amazing girl at one on New Year's Eve. She had an amazing voice."

"Complements, complements!" I said. "What are we going to do with you, Troy Bolton?"

Before we could say anything else, Trish got up on stage and started talking into the mic.

"Okay!" She said. "It's time for the karaoke contest! Our first contestants are Kelly and Alan!" Troy and I watched as Kelly and Alan (our fellow counselors were pushed onto the stage. They started their rendition of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's "Like We Never Loved At All". They bowed as everyone clapped at the end of the painfully earsplitting duet.

"It sounded like those Goths at the Twinkle Towne auditions." Troy said to me as we clapped. I laughed as the image of the two Goths rolling around on the stage as they sang "What I've Been Looking For". Trish skipped back onstage to introduce the next couple.

As the fifth group of counselors finished their song, Trish stepped up to the mic once more.

"Okay! Our last couple to sing is Troy and Gabriella!" She yelled into the mic. I looked at Troy.

"Come on!" I said and grabbed his hand. "Let's do it."

"I don't know, Gabs." He said and looked nervously around.

"Come on Troy." I pleaded. "Like high school. But minus Ms. Darbus." He let out a small laugh.

"Fine!" He said. "Let's do it." We walked up to the stage. As we walked up the stairs to the stage, I stopped. Troy turned around to look at me.

"Don't forget." I said. "Like kindergarten." He smiled.

"Like kindergarten." He replied and we walked up onto the stage.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Music In Me Starts Something New...

The campers stared at Troy and me as we came to a stop in front of Trish. She handed both of us a cordless mic.

"Okay campers!" Trish said into the mic. "Troy and Gabriella's song is going to be 'Music In Me'. Composed by the famous Kelsi Nielson."

Troy looked at me in astonishment. I smiled and remembered the first time that Troy and I sang this song together. It was during the summer that Troy and I had both worked at Sharpay and Ryan Evans's country club.

"Okay let's do this!" I said into the mic. Troy's face turned from shock into a smile. The familiar music started playing.

(Troy's lines in regular font, **Gabriella's in bold**, and _Troy & Gabriella in italics_.)

**Na na na na**

**Na na na na yeah**

**You are the music in me**

**You know the words**

**"Once Upon A Time"**

**Make you listen?**

**There's a reason.**

**When you dream there's a chance you'll find**

**A little laughter**

**or happy ever after**

**-**I watched Troy as he got ready to start singing.-

_yeah harmony to the melody_

_It's echoing inside my head_

**A single voice** (Single voice)

**Above the noise**

_And like a common thread_

Hmm, you're pulling me

**When I hear my favorite song**

**I know that we belong**

Oh, you are the music in me

Yeah it's living in all of us

**And it's brought us here because**

_Because you are the music in me_

_Na na na na _(Ohh)

_Na na na na na_

Yeah yeah yeah**(Na na na na)**

_You are the music in me_

**It's like I knew you before we met** (Before we met)

**Can't explain it** (Ohh ohh)

**There's no name for it **(No name for it)

_I'm saying words I never said_

And it was easy **(So easy)**

Because you see the real me **(I see)**

_As I am You understand_

_And that's more than I've ever known_

**To hear your voice** (Hear your voice)

**Above the noise** (Ohh ohh)

_And no, I'm not alone_

**Oh you're singing to me** (Ohh yeah)

_When I hear my favorite song_

_I know that we belong _(Yeah ohh)

_You are the music in me_

_It's living in all of us_

_And it's brought us here because_

_You are the music in me_

_Together we're gonna sing_ (Yeah)

_We got the power to sing what we feel_ **(What we feel)**

-Troy and I looked at each other and our eyes met. It felt like high school all over again. I smiled and put my heart and soul in the song.-

Connected and real

_Can't keep it all inside_ **(Ohh)**

_Na na na na _**(Ohh yeah)**

_Na na na na na_ **(Ohh yeah)**

Yeah yeah yeah (Na na na na)

_You are the music in me_ (In me)

_Na na na na _**(Ohh yeah)**

_Na na na na na_ **(Ohh yeah)**

_Na na na na_

_You are the music in me_

_When I hear my favorite song _(Favorite song)

I know that we belong **(We belong)**

You are the music in me

Yeah it's living in all of us

It's brought us here because **(Here because**)

You are the music in me

-Troy reached his hand out to me and I took it with out thinking.-

Na na na na **(Ohh yeah)**

Na na na na **(Ohh yeah)**

Na na na na

You are the music in me (Yeah)

-We were really close now. I looked up into his big, blue, eyes.-

"Wow!" Trish exclaimed. "You guys were amazing!!" Troy and I quickly pulled away. The campers and other counselors were still clapping when I back at the crowd. Troy reached over and gently kissed my cheek. I felt myself blush.

"Thank you, Baja California!!" Troy yelled and raised his arms above his head.

"Okay, I need all the contestants back up onstage!" Trish yelled. The rest of the counselors trudged back onstage. "Where are our results?" Charlotte walked up onto the stage holding a bright green envelope.

"Right here!" She said happily. "Give me the mic!" She took the mic out Trish's hand.

"Okay drum roll please!" She said. A drum roll played over the sound system. Troy tightened his grip on my hand as Charlotte said,

"And the winner is..." She opened the envelope and glitter fell out onto the stage. "Troy and Gabriella!"

Troy hugged me and we walked up to Charlotte.

"Your prize." She said and handed us to small silver trophies with a microphone on top of them.

"Thank you." Troy said. "Thank you very much. I would uh, like to thank Mom and Dad, the academy for honoring me with this award, and last but not least, this beautiful girl standing beside me."

"Okay, my turn." I said and took his mic. "I would like to thank my mom, my campers, the judges, and of course Troy Bolton. Thank you!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: To Close For Comfort...

"See you tomorrow morning, Gabriella!" One of my campers, Ashley called as she and the other girls walked back up towards their cabin.

"Okay!" I called back to them. "Don't forget! Wear your swimsuits and old clothes!"

"Okay!" They yelled back.

I turned around and started putting my stuff back into my book bag. I looked around. The beach was emptying out and the wind was picking up. I wrapped my towel around shoulders and started walking towards the water. I kicked the sand up with my bare feet and watched it sink into the dark water. I smiled to myself as I thought about the karaoke contest earlier.

"Hey, I thought you'd disappeared." Someone said from behind me. I turned around and saw Troy walking towards me.

"Hey!" I said. I watched him walk towards me. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing." He replied. "So, how ya feeling Ms. Karaoke Contest Winner?"

"Great!" I replied. "And how about you?"

"Perfect!" He said and came to stand by me.

"So, about earlier," I began. "It was..."

Troy cut me off.

"Great!" He said. "I liked it. It reminded me of high school."

"Yeah, me too." I replied. He was really close to me now. I looked up into his eyes and felt my insides melt. "It was really great."

"You still have this?" Troy asked me and picked up my hand that had his ring on it. He looked at it closely.

"Yeah," I replied. "You told me never to take it off, and I never have." I fingered the ring. I could feel his eyes boring down on me as I looked over the water.

"I can't believe that this happened." Troy said.

"What?" I asked.

"This." He replied. "You and I haven't seen each other in what? Three years, and now we're in each other's life again."

"I like it." I said. "It's sort of nice."

"Sort of?" He asked and looked at me. Instead of looking at him, I looked at the ocean, laughed, and then said,

"I just mean that... Actually, I don't know what I mean. I'm just figuring out what I should do next."

"Did you date anyone else after we broke up?" Troy asked suddenly.

"That was really random." I said.

"Hey, I'm just wondering." Troy said.

"Yes. I did." I replied. "A few aspiring actors, singers, and oh yeah! That singer that girls just totally fall over, Jay Walker. What about you, Troy Bolton?"

"Just a few girls." He replied.

"Just a few girls?" I asked. "You? Please!"

"I'm serious!" He said. "It really wasn't that many - just a few."

"I can't believe that Troy Bolton only dated a few girls." I said. "From what I heard when I moved to East High, you were quite the babe magnet."

"Well, I am pretty good looking if I do say so myself." He replied. I laughed and started kicking the sand into the water again. Troy slipped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. My stomach filled itself with butterflies.

"Troy, I—" I said. I couldn't manage to get the words out. He leaned his head towards me. His lips were almost touching mine.

"I think I'm going to go to bed now." I said, breaking the moment. "Goodnight, Troy. I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah," He replied. "Goodnight, Gabriella."

I walked back up the beach, grabbed my book bag, and walked back up to cabin, leaving Troy standing alone at the water's edge.

When I walked into my cabin, I put my book bag on a chair, and picked up the trophy. I held it in my hands, and then placed it on my nightstand by the picture of my graduation. I pulled on a pair of light purple sleeping shorts and a white cami, and then walked into the bathroom. I took off my make-up, and started to wash my face. The cool water that I splashed onto my face sent a wave of chills down my spine. As I wiped my face with the towel, I looked out the window and saw Troy walking past with his hands in his pockets and his vision directed on his shoes. I watched him walk past my cabin without even a glance at it and into his cabin. I brushed my teeth with toothpaste that was over powered with mint.

As I walked back into my room, I noticed a white envelope lying on my bed. I walked over to it and picked it up. I looked over it and saw that it was from Mom. I quickly tore it open and started to read it as I walked around my cabin.

_Gabriella,_

_I hope you are having an amazing time at the camp in Baja. Call soon, please._

_I'm back in Albuquerque again. My plane left the day after yours. I can't wait to see you when you get back!_

_All My Love,_

_Mom_

I smiled to myself and then set the letter on my desk.

When I turned around, I realized that I could see in the window of Troy's cabin. Troy was standing up in his room, taking his shirt off. I reached up and pulled the curtains above my bed closed. I pulled a white hooded sweatshirt over my head and walked outside to the porch. The uneven wood floor boards felt ruff on my feet as I made my way over to the chair that sat on the porch. I sat down and looked out over the camp. I thought about the day that Troy and I had broken up.

_FLASHBACK_

_Troy and I sat across from each other in one of Los Angeles's fanciest restaraunts._

_"You like it?" Troy asked, as he situated himself in the wooden chair._

_"It's amazing." I replied and looked around. The small tea-light candles on the table gave Troy's face a soft and warm glow as I looked at him._

_"You look beautiful tonight." Troy commented before he took a sip of the water that was in front of him. I blushed and looked down at the napkin in my lap. _

_Before the date, I had raced home from my job at Kitson and hurridly taken a shower. I quickly slipped into a deep purple tank top, pencil cocktail dress and hurridly pulled my hair up into an elaborate updo held by a diamond studded clasp. The moment that I had stepped into my silver, open toe, ankle strap stilettos, Troy had knocked on my door. I grabbed a sliver clutch and answered the door._

_I looked back up at Troy. His eyes were focused on me._

_"What?" I asked. "Is there something in my teeth?"_

_"No," He said. "It's just that...wow."_

_"Finish your sentences." I said. "Was that a good wow or a bad wow?"_

_"A very good wow." He replied, smiling._

_"When do you go have to go back to Duke?" I asked him._

_"I leave tomorrow morning." He said bluntly. _

_"When are you planning to come back out?" I asked._

_"I don't know." He replied and picked at the small salad in front of him._

_"I could come out sometime." I suggested. "I mean if you want me to."_

_"I don't care." He spat at me._

_ "Well, will you tell me when a good weekend would be?" I asked. _

_"Sure." He said. _

_"What is with you tonight?" I asked. "You were so happy like five minutes ago!"_

_"I'm just not in the mood to talk about this, Gabriella!" He snapped._

_"Fine." I replied. "What do you want to talk about?"_

_"Nothing." He said. "Can't we just sit here in silence?!"_

_"Well then, have fun sitting here in silence." I said and stood up._

_"Gab," He said._

_"Goodnight, Troy." I said. "Have a nice dinner." I picked up my clutch and walked out of the restaraunt, leaving Troy._

_END FLASHBACK_

Troy had called over the next couple of days, but I had ignored them. And that was the last that I had heard from Troy until Christmas the next year.

I sighed as the sound of the waves hitting the distant ocean shore started to slowly lull me to sleep.

I awoke suddenly from a sort of half-asleep daze. I stood up and slowly walked back into my cabin. I pulled off my sweatshirt and turned off the light in the cabin. I pulled down the covers and crawled under them.

For some reason, I once again fell asleep thinking of Troy Bolton...


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Messy Olympics

When I woke up the next morning, I groaned when I remembered the last night. I slowly got up and started to get ready for the Messy Olympics. I took a quick shower, almost for no real reason, and then started to get ready. I pulled on a navy bikini, a pair of black SOFFEE shorts, and a light purple, racer back, tight, stomach bearing, sports spaghetti strap shirt. I put on a pair of navy flip-flops and then pulled my hair into two low, braided pigtails. I walked out of my cabin with a handful of change and over to the payphone. I put in about two dollars worth of quarters and quickly dialed Mom's number. I listened as her side of the line rang.

"Hello?" She said when she answered.

"Hi Mom!" I said and leaned against the side of the phone booth.

"Hi Gabriella!" She exclaimed. "Oh! I'm so glad you called!"

"Yeah," I said. "Is something wrong?"

"No," She said. "Uh, listen, what are you doing right now?"

"I'm getting ready to go get my girls up then head to breakfast and the Messy Olympics." I told her.

"Messy Olympics?" She asked. "Sounds like...fun."

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be." I replied. "Listen, I really gotta go. I'll call you soon."

"Okay, Gabriella!" She said. "Love you!"

"Love you, too!" I replied. "Bye!" I hung up the phone and walked up to my campers' cabin.

I opened the door to their cabin and walked inside. All six girls were still asleep and were sprawled out on their beds. The camp officials were somehow able to fit three bunk-beds into the single room cabin.

"Good morning!" I said loudly. "Time to get up!" The girls slowly started to move and push the covers off themselves.

"What time is it?" Catherine asked and sat up in her bed.

"It's 7 o'clock in the morning here in beautiful Baja California." I said in a very fake newscaster voice. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Why?" Ashley asked. "The boys might eat all the food in the dining hall?"

"Uh...yeah." I said. "Trust me, if I know Troy Bolton, that will definitely happen."

"It's too early." They all complained as they started to get dressed.

"Just come on!" I said and walked outside.

As I waited on the porch, I saw Troy walk into the boys' cabin and then heard him blow the blow horn. I heard yells coming from inside the cabin. I walked over to the boys' cabin and looked in the door. Troy was standing in the middle of the room, blowing the horn and yelling,

"Get up! Come on!"

I heard myself laugh and then saw Troy look towards me.

"Having trouble?" I asked.

"Just a little." He replied.

"Need help?" I asked.

"Sure." He replied. "Come on in."

I opened the screen door and walked inside. All the boys were still lying down in the bed, trying to go back to sleep.

"Come on!" I yelled through the blow horn. "Time to go!" The boys opened their eyes, looked at me, groaned, and laid back down.

"Any ideas?" Troy asked.

"Just one." I said. "Come on guys! The girls are waiting outside for you!"

The boys slowly sat up.

"In bikinis!" I yelled. The guys immediately sat up and quickly started getting dressed.

"And Gabriella's magic charm works again!" Troy exclaimed.

"It always does!" I said cheerfully and walked out of the cabin.

When Troy and I finally led our campers to the dining hall, I was absolutely starving. For some reason, I put more food on my plate then usual.

"Are you going to eat all that?" Troy asked when I sat down at the table.

"Ha-Ha." I said and took a bite of the scrambled eggs that were on my plate.

"Counselors and campers!" Charlotte yelled. "When you're ready, start walking down the main road until you come to the big field with the banner saying 'Messy Olympics'!"

"You ready?" Troy asked and looked at me strangely.

"For what?" I asked.

"To get down and dirty." He replied and stood up.

"Ready if you are." I said and stood up next to him.

"Well, come on." He said. "Let's get this over with."

"Okay!" I said. We walked over to the table that our campers were crowded around.

"Come on guys," I said. "It's time to get really, really, REALLY dirty."

They all got up and followed Troy and me out to the main road.

After about a twenty-five or so minute walk down the main road, we finally came to a big, green, field with the large banner. We were directed by Charlotte to our team's square of grass (marked off by a rope) and sat down to wait.

When the rest of the teams had found their squares, Charlotte stepped up with the blow horn.

"Okay! Welcome to the 2nd Annual Messy Olympics!" She yelled. "The first event is the Mexican Nacho Race! You and your team mates have to one at the time, run up to the big bucket of nacho cheese, put some on your face, and then start stacking nacho chips onto your face. Then you have to walk back over to your team and drop the chips into the bucket. Whichever team has the most at the end wins! Are you ready?!"

Everyone in the camp yelled their approval.

"Okay! Let's get started!" She yelled.

We made our over to the light blue bucket and formed a line behind it.

"On your mark!" Charlotte yelled. "Get set! Go!"

Troy, along with five other people ran up to the table covered in pans of nacho cheese. I watched as he smeared the cheese on face and start to pile the nachos onto his face. He turned around and ran back to us. As he peeled the chips of his face, I ran towards the table.

The hot cheese stuck on my face as I picked it up with my bare hands and placed it on my face. I carefully picked up the chips and "strategically" on my face. I turned around and started to make my way back to our team.

"Ew! Ew! Ew!" I exclaimed as I peeled the chips off my face and watched them fall into the bucket. I looked up and saw Troy watching me and laughing.

"What?" I asked and stood up.

"Nothing." He replied his face still covered with the cheese. I walked over to him and started trying to wipe the cheese of my face.

"Ugh, this stuff is gross!" I said and watched some of the cheese fall to the grass.

"It tastes okay, though." He replied.

"Okay! Really gross!" I exclaimed as he put some of the cheese on his finger and ate it.

After I wiped almost all of the cheese off my face, I continued to watch the contest. The final team member made their way over the finish line.

"Okay!" Charlotte yelled. "We have counted the chips and the winners are Team Wildcats!"

"Yes!" Troy exclaimed and punched his fist in the air. The rest of our cheese covered campers surrounded us in a big group hug.

By the time that the last event had come, we were all covered in cheese, flour, mayonnaise (from a mayonnaise slip-n-slide), and salsa (from the human taco, where I was chosen to be the taco shell), everyone smelled awful.

"The last event is the food fight!" Charlotte yelled. "All the stuff is in front of you! You have buckets of syrup, flour, eggs, cheese, barbeque sauce, and anything else you can think of. Go!"

We all raced to the buckets full of stuff. We grabbed handfuls of eggs and through them at each other.

"Hey Gabs!" I heard Troy yell. I turned around and was drenched in flour and syrup.

"Oh my gosh!" I yelled as the syrup slid down my back. "Troy!"

"Yes?" He asked, smiling.

"You are so dead!" I yelled.

"Oh yeah?!" He said. "Come and get me!" I walked towards him with a handful of syrup and flour. I threw the handful at him and it hit him right in the chest. He jumped back in surprise.

"How do you like me now, Troy Bolton?!" I asked and held my arms out. He didn't say anything but ran towards me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"This!" He said and picked me up. He put me over his shoulder and carried me over to the buckets of food. He put me down and picked up one of the buckets full of chocolate syrup.

"Troy!" I said. "Don't!" He walked closer to me with the bucket. "Don't! Troy!" He edged closer and closer to me with the bucket now tilting dangerously near my head.

"Would you like chocolate syrup with that?" He asked.

"I think I'll pass." I replied.

"To bad!" He exclaimed and started to pour the chocolate syrup on me. I reached up and pushed the bucket towards him, drenching him too. The syrup ran into our hair, down our shoulders, and covered our faces. He put the bucket down and we both burst out laughing. He wrapped his arms around me and we hugged.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: It's Fate...

"I smell awful!" I said as Troy, the rest of the team, and I walked back to the camp.

"You're not the only one." Troy said.

"Yeah!" One of the guys, Brad said. "We're all STANKY!!!"

"I have lettuce in my bikini top." I said and threw lettuce down on the dirt road.

"You're the one who volunteered to be the taco shell." Troy said.

"No! If I remember rightly, you volunteered me!" I exclaimed, and playfully pushed him off the road and into the grass.

The Human Taco game consisted of using a team member and stuffing them with lettuce, cheese, and salsa. Troy volunteered me for the taco shell, and then the rest of the team started stuffing lettuce down my shirt and pants. They topped me off with sour cream and salsa.

The camp showers seemed like they were an eternity away.

"I call first shower!" Ashley called when the colorful archway finally came into view.

"I don't think so chicka!" I exclaimed. "If anyone gets the first shower, it's me! I'm the one that smells like a really, REALLY bad salad."

"We all do!" Troy said.

"Oh wait!" I exclaimed. "The counselors have their own showers! So HA!"

"That is so not fair!" All the girls exclaimed. "Why do we have to use the camp showers?!"

"Hey, you signed up for the camp!" I said.

"That was before I knew that we had community showers." She said.

We all trooped down the road and finally through the camp's archway. When we reached my cabin, I walked up the steps and grabbed a beach towel that was folded up on my chair.

"Okay," Troy said. "We should meet back in the dining hall at seven for dinner. And then we can have an evening bonfire on the beach after dinner when it gets dark. Okay?"

Mumbles of yes's and okay's swept through the food covered campers and the filed away to the showers.

"Well, I'm just gonna go to take a shower and clean up." I said. "See you in a little bit." I walked into my cabin and straight into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and let my dirty, smelly clothes fall to the bottom of the shower.

After I had washed my hair and body at least five to six times, I wrapped my towel around myself and walked back into my room, leaving wet footprints behind me. I pulled on a pair of navy shorts and a white halter top, and then let my hair fall around my shoulders. I stepped into another pair of navy flip flops and walked back into my bathroom. I quickly through my clothes and towel from today, and all my other dirty clothes into a plastic clothes basket and walked out of my cabin. I walked into the main camp building and into the laundry room. I put four quarters into the washing machine and loaded my clothes into the washing machine.

As I shut the door to the washing machine, someone walked into the laundry room. I looked up and saw Troy.

"Hey!" I exclaimed.

"Finally get all that gunk out of your hair?" He asked as he put the quarters in the washing machine across from mine.

"After using about a whole bottle of shampoo." I said and hopped up on top of the washing machine. "What about you? Did you get out all of that chocolate syrup?"

He grinned, and then laughed.

"Yeah." He replied. "Thankfully."

"Do you know how gross it would be if you couldn't get all that stuff out of your hair?" I asked him as I hit my heels against the outside of the washing machine.

"Man that would be awful." He replied, running his hand through his shaggy brown hair. "Do you know how bad you would smell if you couldn't get all that stuff out of your hair?"

I laughed and felt the washing machine stop moving underneath me.

I stepped down and opened machine door. I started to pull out the heavy, wet clothes and started to load them into the dryer beside the washing machine.

After Troy and I had collected our clothes, we started to walk back to our cabins.

"So!" Troy said after we had put our stuff down in our cabins. "Ready to head to dinner?"

"Of course!" I replied. "Let's go!"

"Okay!" Troy exclaimed and held out his arm. We linked arms and walked towards the dining hall.

The smell of boxed macaroni and cheese filled the air when we walked into the dining hall.

"Gabriella!" Someone yelled as I walked towards a table after getting my food. I looked up and saw my girls waving me over to the table where they sat. I walked over to them and sat down beside Maggie. I looked around at them. They all wore mischievous grins.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." They all replied and pretended to be totally consumed with the food on their plates.

"Okay, what's up?" I asked, putting my fork down.

"What's going on between you and Troy?" Ashley asked.

"Nothing." I replied quickly and then I pretended to be very interested in the napkin on my plastic tray.

"Come on, Gabriella!" Ashley exclaimed. "We all know that you and Troy have something going on. Tell us!"

"There is nothing going on between me and Troy Bolton!" I said.

"Now why would you think that something is going on me and Troy Bolton?!" I asked and took a bite of the bright orange macaroni and cheese.

"We all see the way he looks at you and the way that you look at him." Maggie told me. "Plus he is like the only on here who calls you 'Gabs'."

"A lot of people call me 'Gabs'." I told them. "And a lot of people did in high school, including Troy."

They all gaped at me.

"Oh, I really shouldn't have said that." I said mostly to myself.

"You mean that you and Troy knew each other before this camp?!" Maggie exclaimed.

"So, do you all like the camp so far?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"Yes, I really like it." Ashley replied. "Don't change the subject! Spill!"

"Fine!" I exclaimed, giving in.

"Tell us everything!" They begged.

"It was Christmas Break during my junior year of high school." I began. "And Mom made me go to the New Year's Eve Teen Party in the Freestyle Club at the lodge that we were staying at. Being the freaky genius girl that I was during high school, I took a book to the party to keep myself busy. And the next thing I knew, I was being pulled up onstage by the DJ to take part in the karaoke contest. That was when I met Troy. He was my partner in the karaoke contest. And I guess you could say that it was love at first sight, but I don't know. After the song, we got each other's numbers and talked until I had to go find my mom to wish her a Happy New Year."

"The next day, I looked for Troy." I continued. "But I couldn't find him anywhere. It turns out that his family had left early that morning. So Mom and I went back to San Diego. My mom had gotten transferred to Albuquerque, so we packed up all our stuff and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was nervous just like anyone would be on my first day at my new high school- East High. And it turns out that Troy went to that school and was the captain of the basketball team and plus the most popular guy in school. That day, we saw a sign-up sheet for the winter musical and joked about signing up. It turned out that Troy and I both showed up to "watch" the auditions and ended up singing one of the songs together, not to audition, but just to sing. The drama teacher, Ms. Darbus overheard us and gave us a callback. And as you can guess, Troy Bolton getting a callback to the winter musical ruffled everyone's feathers at school. But not as much as it bothered the school's biggest drama queen, Sharpay Evans, and her twin, Ryan. They had never lost a part since kindergarten. So they convinced Ms. Darbus to move the callbacks to the same day and time of Troy's championship game and my scholastic decathlon competition. But Troy and I made it to the callback after shutting the power down in the gym and cooking up some smelly concoction at the decathlon. We ended up getting the part and showing everyone that you can do anything that you want to. Troy and I dated until we were about 19."

"What happened with Sharpay and Ryan?" Ashley asked.

"We're best friends now." I replied.

"So you and Troy broke up?" Maggie asked.

"Yep." I replied. "I'll see you all at the bonfire later on. Bye." I pushed my tray away from myself and walked out of the dining hall. I walked over to my cabin and pulled on a lavender string bikini. I walked outside and down to the beach. I dropped my towel on the sand and walked into the tide. I dove under the clear blue waves and let the salt water soak me. When I came back up, I pushed the hair away from my face and turned to face the beach. Troy was standing there, watching me. He pulled of his shirt, walked into the water and dove in. He came up right in front of me.

"Gabriella," He said and wiped the water away from his eyes. He got closer to me.

"Troy, I...What happened between us when we broke up," I began. Troy cut me off.

"It doesn't matter." He said and leaned down.

This time, I didn't pull away. I leaned up and met him.

The kiss made my body melt. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I felt his muscular arms wrap around me.

When we pulled away, I looked up into his blue eyes and kissed him again.

"I didn't think that would happen." Troy said.

"Well, some people call it fate, Troy Bolton." I replied. He smiled and kissed me again.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Together Again

Troy and I walked out of the cool ocean water holding hands. We sat down and fell back onto the sand.

I looked over at Troy and watched him gaze up at the sky.

"This place is so amazing!" I said and looked at the ocean. "I can't believe this place. It is probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen."

"I know whatcha mean." Troy replied. "I could just stay here on the beach and lay here forever."

"What about the basketball? And college? And everything else in your life?" I asked.

"As long as you're right here beside me, nothing matters." he replied. He squeezed my hand and entangled his fingers in mine.

I smiled and looked at the ocean.

"We're together again." I said and looked at him again. He turned his head to look at me. "Like high school."

"Like high school." He replied, smiling. "And kindergarten."

"Absolutely." I replied as Troy sat up. I looked at him and then found myself staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." I replied. "Nothing at all." I got up and grabbed my towel.

"See you later, Wildcat." I told him and walked towards my cabin.

When I walked inside, I pulled my iPod and iPod speakers out of my suitcase. I turned on a song that made me feel absolutely giddy, "Walking On Sunshine", and then once again took a shower.

After taking the shower, I walked back into my room so I could get ready for the bonfire that was in about thirty minutes. I looked out my window and saw Troy, already showered, and setting wood up in a pyramid. I smiled to myself as I pulled on a pair of dark-washed blue jean short shorts and a white tube top. I loosely braided my hair to the side and then put on a pair of gold Chanel logo earrings.

As night fell, I saw our campers one by one, walk towards the beach.

When it had grown completely dark, I slipped into a pair of light brown flip-flops with a gold braid as the straps and walked out towards the beach. The bonfire was going full blaze now. Troy and the campers had set beach towels up in a circle around the bonfire.

Sand covered the soles of my flip-flops as I walked towards the large bonfire.

"Hey guys!" I exclaimed when I reached the blaze. Troy looked up and smiled. I smiled then said,

"So, what did I miss?" I asked as I sat down beside Troy on one of the beach towels.

"Troy was just telling us about his high school years." One of the girls replied with a sly grin. "He also had some very interesting high school years, Gabriella."

"What are they talking about?" Troy asked me quietly.

"They were interrogating me at dinner about our "thing" in high school." I replied softly.

"Oh..." Troy replied. "Well, I didn't say too much."

I slid my feet out of my shoes and crossed my legs beneath me.

"Well, the girls got almost my whole high school story." I told him. "They forced it out of me."

"Well, they did that to me too." Troy replied.

"We're just victims of young ambition and nosiness." I said.

"We raided the kitchen for marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers." Two of the boys, Gage and Chris said. "Who want's smores?"

The two boys got up and handed everyone a metal skewer, two graham crackers, two marshmallows, and a piece of chocolate.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" One of my campers, Morgan asked.

"Ask Gabs," Troy said and stuffed a marshmallow into his mouth. "She probably knows." The girls smiled when Troy had called me 'Gabs'.

"We have the whole day to swim and hang out at the beach." I told everyone as I roasted one of my marshmallows.

"Awesome!" All the guys chorused.

"Oh yeah!" Troy exclaimed and high fived the guy sitting next to him.

"Troy?" I said.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Your marshmallow is on fire." I told him. He lifted the flaming marshmallow to his face and blew it out. It was burnt black. I burst out laughing.

"What?" He asked, looking at me weirdly.

"Nothing." I replied in between laughs. Troy took a bite of the burnt marshmallow and made a face.

"It's not that bad." He said and finished it off.

"That was gross." I told him as I pulled my perfectly roasted marshmallow off the skewer. "Now this, this is the perfect marshmallow. Here, try some."

I held it up to his mouth and he took a bite.

"That was way better than the one I just made." He said and smiled.

"You have marshmallow on you face." I told him and wiped the white streak off his cheek. "There, it's gone now."

"Thanks!" He replied, and shoved a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"No problem." I replied, lost in his eyes.

"So!" Morgan said, bringing Troy and I out of the daze. "You said that you signed a contract with a recording company. What's it like to be famous?"  
"No one really knows that I signed a recording contract yet and I haven't really been chased by paparazzi or anything yet, but I've done a couple photo shoots for various magazines." I said. "My friend Sharpay also signed with the same company as I did and we have the same manager and all."

"But when you do become really famous," Morgan said. "You have to remember the camp here and all your campers."

"Of course!" I replied. "How could I forget all of you?!"

"It's easier than you think." She replied.

"Do any of you play any sports?" Troy asked.

"Tennis." A couple of the girls replied.

"Football all the way." Some of the guys said.

"Cheerleading." Some of the girls said.

"Basketball." Some of both, girls and boys said.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Troy said. "East High Wildcats, baby!"

"Gabriella, what about you?" Maggie asked. "Any sports?"

Troy coughed into his hands.

"No," I replied. "I was just forced to endure the long torture of endless basketball games during my high school days."

"Hey!" Troy exclaimed. "They weren't endless!"

"That's because you were playing in the game, Troy." I replied. "Sitting in the stands really wasn't that fun."

"I liked you being there." He replied. "And Chad liked Taylor being there. So you had someone to talk to."

"Fine," I replied. "I admit, it was fun watching you have fun, but really Troy, you know that sports really aren't my thing."

"Yes," He replied. "I know."

"Anyway!" Gage exclaimed. "If you have a job, what is it? Troy, you first."

"Okay, well, my best friend, Chad, and I work at this sports store in the mall Durum. Gabby?"

"Well, I work at the Kitson store in LA." I said to everyone. The fire gave everyone's face an orange glow.

As we went around the circle, I found out that most everyone worked at the Aeropostale, Abercrombie & Fitch, or the American Eagle in there home towns.

The subject then changed to favorite stores, favorite ice cream flavor, favorite movie, and then where you want to go most in the world.

"You guys, look at the stars." Ashley said after I had told everyone where I wanted to go in the world, which was Milan, Italy. We all looked up at the navy night sky. The stars twinkled like diamonds on a navy velvet blanket.

"It's so beautiful." Ashley said as everyone looked in awe. The sparks from the fire dotted the air above us. I looked over at Troy and watched him gaze up at the stars.

"What are you thinking about, Troy?" I asked quietly. He was silent for a moment.

"I'm not really sure." He replied, still looking at the sky. "But I'll let you know when I figure it out." He looked over at me, smiled, and then took my hand.

"I love you, Troy." I said.

He smiled as he said,

"I love you, too Gabriella. I always have. And I never actually stopped."

I moved closer to him and placed my head on his chest. His heartbeat sounded like a perfect rhythm in my ears as we both stared up into the endless night sky.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Next Day...

After I had showered the next morning, I pulled on a pair of dark washed jean shorts and a white tank top. I pulled my hair into loose, low, braided pigtails and then put on my sneakers. I picked up my red East High Wildcat cap that was Troy's from high school, placed it on my head and walked over to my campers' cabin. To my surprise, they were already sitting in the porch of their cabin, waiting. They had that weird look in their eyes again.

"What?" I asked. "Is something up?"

"Nothing." They all replied at the same time.

"Something's up." I said.

"No there's not." Ashley replied.

Before I could say anything, Troy's voice rang out from behind me. I turned around and saw Troy and the boys walking towards us.

"Good morning, ladies!" Troy exclaimed and came to stand beside me. He reached over and entangled his fingers in mine.

"I can't believe it!" Ashley exclaimed. "You two are dating! Aren't you?"

"Well, I guess we'd have to admit it eventually." Troy replied.

"Yes," I replied. "We are." I looked up into his eyes.

"So, I was thinking that since today we don't have anything to do except hang at the beach, Gabriella and I are open to ideas on what to do today." Troy said.

"I have one!" Maggie said. "Let's go into the town that we passed on the way into the camp. You know the one with all the cute clothing shops and cafes. Why don't we go there? It'd be fun!"

"That's sounds like a lot of fun!" I exclaimed and then looked over at Troy. "What do you think, Troy?"

"Yeah, it sounds cool?" He replied and then turned to the guys. "What about you guys? Ready for a day of lugging around shopping bags and answering questions like, 'Hey babe? Does this outfit look good on me?' or 'The pink bikini or lilac bikini?' and of course my personal favorite, 'Does this outfit make me look fat?'"

The guys burst out laughing.

"Not funny." I said and hit him on the stomach.

"Ow!" Troy said. "Come on, let's go."

We walked over to the main cabin, and I walked inside.

"Hey Charlotte?" I asked when I found her sitting at her desk.

"Yeah, Gabriella?" She asked without looking up from the pile of papers on her desk.

"Can I get the keys to the van?" I asked.

"Sure!" She replied. "Taking your campers to the town?" She threw the keys to me.

"Yes," I replied. "One of the girls suggested it."

"Okay, just be safe." She said as I turned towards the door.

"Okay." I replied and walked out. "Thanks."

I quickly walked over to my cabin, grabbed my Coach book bag, threw it over my shoulder, and walked back over to the van.

"Let's go." I said and climbed into the driver's seat of the van.

I stuck the key in the ignition, as everyone climbed in to the back.

As we pulled out of the camp, Troy turned on the radio and the song, "Livin' La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin blasted over through the speakers.

We all started singing along. A mix of conversations filled the van as we drove towards the town. The stick shift van rumbled as I drove down the road.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you," Troy began as I turned onto the road leading to the town. "You remember how I told you that my coach had gotten me a try-out for the Lakers?"

"Yeah," I said as I pulled over on the side of the main street in the town and parked. "Oh, can you ask me later?"

"Sure." He said and got out.

"We actually would like to take Gabriella to get some stuff." Ashley said.

"And we wanted to take Troy to get some stuff, too." Gage said.

"Okay," I said. "Why don't we meet at that café for lunch in like, 3 hours?"

"Sounds great!" Ashley said. "Come on!" She grabbed my hand and the girls started to drag me down the vendor lined street.

"I'll see you later." I said to Troy as they pulled me down the street and waved back at him.

"Where are we going?" I asked them.

"You have a date tonight." Maggie said as we walked up to a vendor that sold bikinis.

"A date?" I asked.

"Yes, a date." Ashley replied.

"And exactly who am I going on this date with?" I asked as I looked through the pile of swimsuits on the decorated wooden cart. I held a lime green string bikini up to my body. "You guys this?"

"Troy." Ashley coughed.

"What?!" I exclaimed and put the swimsuit back down. "You guys! Absolutely not!"

"But why not?!" They all said. "You're dating!"

"Just because," I said, remembering the last date, which had ended in our break-up, as ran my fingers on the material of a silk scarf. I walked over to the next vendor that sold earrings.

"Gabriella!" Ashley exclaimed and followed me. "Come on! Will you please do this?"

"I don't know, guys." I said as I browsed.

"You have to do this!" They begged. "Come on, for us."

I finally gave in.

"Fine!" I exclaimed. They squealed and we all linked arms.

"Come on!" Maggie said. "Let's find you the perfect beach date outfit."

We started walking down the street, looking around at the various vendors.

"This is the perfect swimsuit!" Maggie exclaimed and held up a white crochet tube top, under wire bikini top with a matching crochet bottom.

"You have to get this!" Ashley said, holding it up to my body. "It will look amazing on you!" I held the swimsuit away from my body and looked it over.

"I have to admit, it would look amazing on me." I said. "Fine, I'll get it."

"Yes!" Ashley said and punched her fist in the air. I handed the vendor twenty-five pesos and the swimsuit.

"Gracias!" The vendor said, put the swimsuit in a bag, and handed it to me.

"You have to get this, too!" They said and led me over to another vendor's cart. They held up a silk, turquoise, floor-length, beach wrap skirt that had a large split up one of the sides.

As I paid for the wrap, two of my girls walked up holding a small white paper bag.

"These are for you." She said and handed me the bag.

I opened the bag.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you!" I exclaimed and hugged the girls. "These are gorgeous!" I picked up the group of 10, thin gold bangles, a pair of large gold hoop earrings, and a gold anklet.

"Well, we thought that they'd go perfectly with your outfit." They replied.

"Here you go." The vendor said in a thick Spanish accent and handed me the bag.

"Okay, come on guys." I said, "It's time to go meet the guys at the café for lunch."

"Let's go!" Every one of the girls said at almost the same time.

When we walked up to the café, all the guys were already sitting around a bunch if tables that they had pushed together. Troy looked up and said,

"Hey!"

"You guys hungry?" I asked as I sat down in between Troy and Gage.

"Do you have to ask?" Troy asked and handed me a menu. I looked over the menu.

"This is in Spanish." I said. Troy reached over and turned over the menu.

"Ah!" I said. "Thank you...The English side."

_La Mexicano_

_Enchilada…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2.00_

_Arose Corpora………………………………………………………………………………………………………3.00_

_Taco………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………1.00_

The list went on and on.

"Ready?" The waiter asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Is everyone ready?" Everyone nodded.

"Okay, I want that." I said and pointed to the Arose Corpora.

While we waited for the food, everyone chatted noisily together. Troy put his arm around my shoulders and then asked,

"So, what did you all do?"

"Walked around and shopped." I replied, resting my head on his chest. "What about you?"

"We also walked around, and it might surprise you, but we actually shopped." Troy said. I sat up straight.

"You what?" I asked, looking at him strangely. "Excuse me, but I thought that you said that you shopped."

"That's exactly what I said." He replied. "We shopped."

"I never thought that I would hear those words come out of your lips, Troy Bolton. Without hearing that it came before, 'Gabriella, do I really have to come?'"

"Not funny." He said and dipped one of the tortilla chips in the salsa in front him.

The food finally came. I looked around at all the laughing and eating campers that sat around me. Troy reached over with his fork and grabbed some of my rice and chicken.

"Hey! That's mine!" I said and pushed him away.

"Hey, you can have some of mine!" He said.

"Well, you can have some of mine, but I think I'll pass on the enchilada." I said, taking another bite of mine.

When we pulled back into the camp and parked, I gave Charlotte back the keys and then was once again kidnapped by the girls.

"We'll see you guys later." The girls said to the guys as they made their way towards the beach.

They pushed me into my cabin and sat me down in the chair. Ashley started to lay out my outfit.

"Time to chat!" Maggie said. "How serious were you and Troy in high school." I got up and walked over to the closet. I pulled a thick red yearbook out of my carry-on.

"This serious." I said flipping to the superlatives page in the yearbook and laid it on the bed. They all gasped.

"Oh my gosh!" They all exclaimed, pointing at the page.

"It's not that big of a deal!" I said.

"Gabriella!" Ashley exclaimed. "You were voted best couple! That's a pretty big deal!"

"You think that's something?" I asked, turning to another page. "Look at this one." I pointed at another picture. This time, it was of us in Twinkle Towne, the musical.

"And then these." I said and flipped to the personal ads in the back of the yearbook before the signature pages.

The girls looked at the two pages and screamed.

Troy ran into the cabin looking panic stricken.

"What?!" He yelled. "What's wrong?!"

I burst out laughing.

"Nothing." I said between laughs. "We were just talking."

"And it included screaming?" He asked.

"Well, THIS usually does." I said and held up the yearbook from our senior year.

"Yes, that would cause screaming." He replied.

"It always does." I said.

"I'll just see you later." Troy said, smiling as he walked out.

When he was out of sight, the girls started squealing and gossiping about the pictures.

"Gabriella," Maggie said. "We'll see you after dinner. Okay?"

"Okay." I said, plastering a smile on my face.

When the girls walked out of my cabin, I picked up the yearbook and looked at the superlatives page. The picture that was of me and Troy was a typical "Best Couple" color picture. I was on Troy's back with my arms around his neck.I flipped to the Twinkle Towne pictures. Troy and I were backstage, holding hands in our costumes.

As I looked at the last two pictures, I felt spare tears roll down my cheeks. The first picture was the graduation picture that I had in my cabin and the last one was of me and Troy. The picture was from a trip that Troy and I had taken to New York City right after I had signed the recording contract. It was in the winter and we were standing in Times Square. I remembered getting the picture taken. I wore a pair of dark washed jeans, a white, long sleeved cable knit, scoop neck sweater, a dark green bomber jacket with fur around the hood, and had on a pair of black, pointed toe stiletto boots on. Troy had on light washed jeans, two zip up warm up jackets (a navy and a red), a grey, down filled jacket, and sneakers on. Snow fell around us and had landed in our hair. Our arms were around each other and we were smiling at the camera. Above the picture, the caption read,

CONGRATULATIONS GABRIELLA!

And then beneath the picture it read:

WE LOVE YOU!

Mom, Troy, Coach Bolton, and Mrs. B.

I ran my hand over the smooth paper. I laid back on the bed and then looked over at the graduation picture on my bedside table.

I looked out the window in front of the bed and watched the waves hit the shore and then sink back into the ocean.

Instead of going to the dining hall for supper, I stayed in my room and snacked on a bag of potato chips that I still had in my carry on.

"Time to get ready!" The girls exclaimed and started to pile into my cabin once more.

"Girls, come on!" I protested.

"Yes, we have to!" Ashley said, "Now let's move!"

She pulled me up to my feet by my hands, pushed the swimsuit into my arms and pointed to the bathroom. I walked into the bathroom, changed and walked back out. The girls let out whistles as I tried to cover up my bare stomach.

"Okay, you look amazing!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Ashley said and handed me the cover up. I tied it around my waist and looked around at the girls.

"Sit down." Ashley said and pushed down into the chair and took the braids out of my hair so my hair fell in loose waves around my face and around my shoulders. I picked up my make-up bag and started to apply it.

As I applied my mascara, Ashley reached down and fastened the thin gold anklet around my right ankle.

"You look beautiful." Maggie said and handed me the gold earrings and the group of bangles. I slipped a couple of the bangles on my left arm and then fastened the gold hoops on my ears. I got up and walked into the bathroom. I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

"Come on Gabriella! We have to do your nails and stuff!" They yelled.

"I'm coming!" I yelled to them.

"Well, hurry!" They replied and walked back into the room. I picked up my iPod, turned on the song, "Potential Break-Up Song" by Aly & Aj, and sat down in the chair again.

One of the girls, Megan said,

"I used to work at a nail salon. So can I can give you a French manicure."

"Sounds great." I said and leaned back in the chair.

About an hour later, Megan finished and then sun was starting to set.

"Time to go." Ashley said. "Your date is heading towards the beach." I looked out the window and saw Troy walking towards the sand.

"One more thing before you go." Maggie said and handed me a white button up tie front shrug. I slipped it on and tied it right above my belly button, leaving the top unbuttoned.

"Go get it, babe." Ashley said and held the door open for me.

"I'll see you ladies tomorrow." I said as I walked down the steps. The hot sand stung my feet as I walked barefoot over the sand to where Troy stood about 10 feet from the water's edge.

"Hi." I said when I reached him. He turned around to face me.

"Wow," He said open mouthed. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." I replied and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

"You wanna walk?" He asked, holding his hand out to me.

"Sure." I replied, and took his hand. We started to walk along the beach. "Oh! What were you going to ask me in the van today?"

"Oh," He said. "Well, you remember how I told you about the Lakers try-out?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Well, I was wondering if you would come with me to the try-outs and spend the week in LA with me." He said.

"Troy, I..." I said.

"Come on, please." He said. "It would mean so much to me if you could be there, sitting out in the lobby in that gym, supporting me."

"I don't know what to say." I said.

"Say yes!" Troy said, and kissed my hand.

"Okay, yes!" I exclaimed. "Of course I'll go with you!"

"Thank you so much!" He said and kissed my cheek. He hugged me.

"Come on." I said, pulling out of the hug. "I'll race you." I took off running back to where we had started walking from.

"That's not fair!" He yelled and started to run after me.

He finally caught up with me and grabbed my waist and slung me around like he had in the gym the day that I had met Troy's Dad.

"That wasn't fair." He said.

"It was perfectly fair." I said. "Because you still caught up me."

"Yeah...I guess." He replied and kissed me.

"Oh my gosh, Troy." I said. "Look at the sun. It's gorgeous." The sun had become a large, fiery, half circle on the horizon.

We stood there until the sun sank beneath the blue horizon line. Darkness had overcome the white beach and the moon started to peak into the sky, making the sand glow. Troy and I walked up to the dry sand and sat down. I rested my head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around me.

All of a sudden, music started to play. It was the song, "Hero" by Enrique Eglasias.

"Where did that come from?" I asked, looking around.

"I don't know." Troy replied and stood up. "Well, would you like to dance?"

"Yes." I replied and took his outstretched hand. He pulled me up and put one arm around my waist. I placed one of my hands on his shoulder and entangled my other hand in his. We started to sway back and forth. We were really close to each other.

"This is amazing." I said quietly.

"Yeah." Troy replied looking down at me.

I looked up into his bright blue eyes.

"Do you think that this is the right thing?" I asked.

"What?" He asked.

"This." I said. He looked confused. "Us, I mean."

"Of course." He replied. "We're perfect together."

"I guess so." I replied. The wind picked up and blew my cover-up and hair lightly to one side.

"I promise." Troy said. "It's like you said – Fate."

Troy kissed me as we swayed.

It was perfect end to a perfect night.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Back To Los Angeles

"_Flight 212 To Los Angeles, California would now like to start pre-boarding with first class." _

The announcement filled the terminal at the airport in Baja.

"That's out flight." I said to the remaining girls. "I'll see you in a week, okay?"

"Okay." They said as we hugged.

"Gabs, we gotta go." Troy said as he came to stand next to me.

"I'm ready." I replied. "Bye!"

Troy and I turned and walked towards the flight attendant. Troy handed the flight attendant our passports and tickets.

"Have a nice flight!" She said cheerfully as she handed us our tickets.

Troy and I held hands as we walked down the hallway towards the plane. The smell of leather and airplane food surrounded me as we walked over to the large leather seats.

"You want the window?" Troy asked.

"It's okay." I replied. "You can have it."

"Thanks." He said and put his DESIEL book-bag in the overhead compartment. I sat down and pushed my Chanel bag under the seat in front of me.

_"Please buckle your seatbelt for take-off." _The captain said over the intercom as the plane started to slowly move down the runway.

Troy grabbed my hand as the plane lifted off the ground. I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes. Flying always made me feel awful.

I covered myself in one of the blankets and rested my head on Troy's shoulders and slowly drifted to sleep.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Before I knew it, Troy was gently shaking me awake. I looked up at him.

"Yeah?" I asked, rubbing sleep out of my eyes.

"We're about to land." He said quietly.

"Oh," I said sleepily and sat up. "Thanks." I pushed the blanket off my body and watched it fall to the floor. The queasy feeling immeadiatly returned to my stomach as I looked at the seat in front of me.

"You feelin' okay?" Troy asked me. I nodded silently and tried to focus on something else.

The plane landed abruptly on the ground and finally pulled up to the gate. People immeadiatly stood up and Troy and I grabbed our carry-on bags and waited in line to get off the plane. We walked out into the main terminal and walked over to the side of the hallway. I put my bag down and started to dig through it. I pulled out my SideKick III and turned it on. I dialed Sharpay's number and listened to her Akon RingBack tone. It went to her voicemail:

"Hey! It's Sharpay! Sing your song at the beep!"

BEEP!!!

"Hey Sharpay!" I said. "It's Gabriella! I'm in LA again. Meet me at the JADE club tomorrow night at nine. I have a surprise for you. Love ya babe! Bye!"

"You have a surprise for her?" Troy asked.

"Yeah." I replied as I put my phone back in my bag. "A small one." I kissed his cheek and grabbed his hand.

"Come on." Troy said, smiling. "Let's go get our stuff." I picked up my bag, threw it over my shoulder, and we headed towards the baggage claim.

As I waited as Troy went to grab the bags, I spotted a curly afro standing in the McDonald's line. I walked over and casually walked in front of the person.

"Chad!" I exclaimed. He looked around and the face of Chad Danforth stared back at me.

"Gabriella?" He asked in wonder. "Oh my gosh!"

"Chad!" I exclaimed again. I jumped into his arms and hugged him. "What are you doing here?"

"The Lakers try-outs!" He said.

"Right!" I said. "I knew about those."

"Wait, how did you know about those?" He asked.

Before I could say anything, a girl walked up to Chad. I looked at the girl closely and squealed.

"Taylor!"

"Gabriella!" Taylor McKessie squealed. We hugged.

"I knew you lived in LA, but how did you know that we were going to be here?" Taylor said when we pulled away.

"I didn't!" I said. "I'm working at a camp in Baja California, this summer, and I'm back for the week on a break."

"Back to my question!" Chad said. "How did you know about the try-outs?"

Before I could reply, Troy walked up to us with a luggage cart. Chad and Taylor looked at me when Troy put his arm around my waist.

"That's why!" Chad said, mostly to himself.

"Chad! Taylor!" Troy said. "I didn't think that you were coming until tomorrow, on Sunday."

"We decided to come a little earlier to see the sights." Taylor said. "You two mind telling us what's going on here?"

"We're sort of dating...again." I said and pushed my the straps of my bag up on my shoulder as Troy said,

"We both turned up to work at the same camp in Baja California. We ended up on the same team, and well, you know."

"You started dating." Taylor said.

"Exactly." Troy said. "So what do you guys think?"

"I love it!" Taylor exclaimed and hugged me again.

"Come on, let's go." Troy said and we all started walking towards the doors.

We chatted noisily all the way to one of the bright yellow taxi vans. Chad and Troy piled our suitcases into the trunk and then piled into the van beside Taylor and me. I told the driver my address and he slowly pulled out of the airport.

As we drove towards my house, my phone rang. I looked at the screen and Sharpay's name and picture blinked across the screen.

"Hey!" I said when I answered.

"Hey, I got your message." Sharpay said. "And I will see you tomorrow night."

"Okay, see you then." I replied.

"Okay." She said. "Bye!"

"Bye!" I replied. I dropped my phone back into my bag and listened to the conversation going on between Troy and Chad.

"I'm serious, man!" Chas said to Troy. "These try-outs are supposed to be like worse than the ones we had for Duke!"

"Dude, we got scholarships!" Troy said back to him.

"But still had to play amazing at the state game." Chad said back.

"But we weren't on the spot like we're gonna be at these try-outs." Troy said.

"Man, we can do it!" Chad said. "It'll be nothing!"

"Could we possibly talk about something else?" I asked.

"Why?" Troy asked.

"This is so boring!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Hey, don't hate the sport of basketball." Chad said.

"Sorry, Chad." Taylor said. "Can't help it."

The van rolled to a stop in front of my house.

"Finally." I said and stepped out onto the green grass of my lawn.

"Wow, nice place." Chad said.

Taylor and I walked up my driveway and across the walkway. I unlocked my front door and walked into my bright blue living room. I put my bag down in its usual place on the stool underneath the white framed mirror on the wall beside my door and looked around.

"I love your couch!" Taylor said and walked over to my white leather couch and sat down. "And I love your table!" She rubbed her hand over my glass coffee table and the white vase full of bright pink glass flowers.

"Thank you!" I said and reached over to close the door.

"Wait!" Troy yelled from outside. "Do not close the door!"

"Sorry!" I said as Troy and Chad walked into the room carrying our suitcases. "You can put those anywhere you want. Troy set the suitcases on the floor and looked around. I walked into the kitchen and opened fridge.

"Ugh!" I said. "I have nothing in my fridge."

"I'll go to the store with you, Gabs." Taylor said looking up from the magazine she was looking at in the living room.

"Okay, let's go." I said. I grabbed my keys, and walked over to the door with Taylor. "See you later." We walked out the door and over to my silver Mercedes convertible. I pulled out of the driveway and drove towards the super-market.

"So, what is really going on with you and Troy?" Taylor asked.

"We're just dating." I replied.

"Gabriella, come on." Taylor said. "You and Troy are never just dating."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"When you and Troy dated in high school, it just wasn't simple." She said. "You two were really into each other."

"So?" I asked.

"So! Tell me everything!" She exclaimed. I laughed then said,

"Okay, so I show up at the camp and get the rules and stuff from the director. And I'm unpacking everything and Charlotte, the director, knocks on my door and tells me that my partner is here. And guess who it is? Troy Bolton."

"Are you serious?" Taylor exclaimed, smiling.

"Totally serious!" I said. "Well, we start to talk and then we got to know each other all over again."

"He kissed you, didn't he?" She asked. I tried to hold back a smile.

"Yeah." I replied. "Why?"

"No reason." She replied back.

When we pulled up to the super-market, we got out and walked in.

"So, you and Chad still going strong?" I asked Taylor as we walked down the prepackaged candy aisle.

"Of course!" Taylor said and picked up a bag of candy and put it in the buggy.

"For Chad." She said when I gave her a confused look.

"Oh..." I said and smiled. I picked up a box of Pop-Tarts and threw it in the buggy.

"What about you and Troy?" Taylor asked.

"We already talked about this." I said, putting boxes of cereal in the buggy.

"We only talked about how you and Troy met again?" she protested. "So...how serious are you two?"

"I don't know." I replied.

"Is it like high school or are you two just really close friends?" She asked. I hesitated to say something. "Come on, Gabriella!"

"High school." I said quietly. Taylor squealed and said,

"You and Troy are like totally in love! All over again!"

"Taylor!" I said.

We continued to walk around the store filling the buggy with food.

"Your total is $76.41." The cashier said after Taylor and I had loaded the food onto the conveyer belt. Taylor reached into her Coach Hobo bag, but I reached over and stopped her.

"Hey, you're staying at my house," I said. "So, I got it."

"Fine!" She said and put her brown wallet back in her bag. I signed the receipt and then grabbed some of the full paper bags.

When had loaded the groceries into the back of my car, and we were driving down the one of the main shopping roads in LA, Taylor looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Fine!" I said, finally giving in. I pulled into the parking spot and we got out. As we walked into the True Religion, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said.

"Ms. Montez?" the voice on the other line asked.

"Yes?" I asked.

"This is Margie from BAM Records," She said, "and I have called to tell you that I just emailed you your schedule for this week."

"This week?" I asked nodded at the cowboy boots Taylor was holding up. "I thought I was off this week."

"Yes." Margie replied. "Is that a problem?"

"Depends on what time." I replied. "But it should be fine overall."

"Okay, just calling to let you know." She said. "Thank you. Bye." The line went dead.

I groaned as I put my phone back in my purse.

"Bad news?" Taylor asked as I held a t-shirt up to my body.

"My manager's secretary just called me and told me that she just emailed me this week's schedule." I said and put the t-shirt over my arm.

"I thought that you didn't have anything to do this weekend." She replied.

"That's what I thought too." I replied. "But..."

"Apparently not." She finished my sentence and looked through a rack of red dresses.

"I'm gonna go try this stuff on." I said and walked towards the dressing rooms with Taylor at my heels.

"What are you going to do?" Taylor asked as I pulled off my clothes and slipped into a taupe colored pleated, tube top dress.

"I'm not sure." I replied and pulled back the curtain of the dressing room. "You like this?"

"Oh my gosh!" Taylor exclaimed. "Gabriella! You have to buy that dress!"

I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Does it look okay?" I asked, looking at the dress.

"It's perfect on you!" Taylor said. "You have got to wear that in a date with Troy!"

I looked over the dress again and then finally said,

"Fine!"

"Yes!" Taylor exclaimed and smiled. I walked back into the dressing room, changed back into my clothes and walked over to the cash register.

"Thank you!" The cashier said as she handed me my two bags of clothes.

"Thank you!" I replied back as Taylor and I walked out of the store.

After stopping at a couple more stores, Taylor and I finally drove back to my house.

"We're back!" Taylor exclaimed as when we walked back into the house. Troy and Chad looked up from watching a basketball game on my plasma screen TV.

"What took you so long?" Troy asked. I held up my clothing bags and Troy nodded.

"That explains it." Chad said.

Taylor and I carried the grocery bags into the kitchen and set them down on the white kitchen table.

"You think that Troy will mind that you have stuff to do this week?" Taylor asked.

"I don't know." I replied and pulled four bright green plates out of the white cabinet above the sink.

"How do you think he'll take it?" She asked.

"I hope he takes it well." I replied and put the plates on the table.

"I'm sure he will." Taylor said. "Troy loves you more than you can imagine, Gabby." I smiled and started looking through the newly stocked fridge for something to fix for our dinner.

"What do you guys want to eat?" Taylor yelled to Chad and Troy from the kitchen.

"What about sandwiches?" Chad asked.

"Sandwiches?" I said, looking at him.

"That is almost the only thing he eats." Taylor said. "Either that or French fries."

"Nice." I said and got the sandwich stuff out of the fridge.

"Hey Troy!" I yelled to him.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Can you guys come in here?" I replied.

"Coming!" They both yelled back and appeared in the kitchen a few moments later.

After we had eaten, and Taylor and I had forced Troy and Chad to clean up, we walked into the living room and flipped on the TV. We turned it to MTV and started watching The Real World: Las Vegas.

"You guys gonna come watch this?" I asked Troy and Chad.

"What do you think?" Chad asked. "You're watching awful stuff."

"Oh really?" Taylor asked and flipped the channel to a Duke Basketball game that I had recorded. She turned the volume up so the boys could here the announcer saying,

"And Troy Bolton has the ball and is passing it to teammate and best friend, Chad Danforth!"

"We're coming!" Troy yelled and they ran into the living room. They jumped on top of Taylor and me and grabbed the remote.

"Troy!" I yelled.

"Chad!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Get off!" I yelled, trying to push Troy off me.

"No!" He said and stretched out over me and Taylor.

I pushed him off and he landed on the floor with a thud.

"We win!" Taylor said and we smiled triumphantly.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Sharpay's Surprise!

"Gabriella!" Troy yelled from the other side of the door to my room. "Come on! We're going to be late!"

"I'm coming!" I replied. I quickly pulled my hair up into a loose ponytail and checked my outfit in the full length mirror. My electric purple dress from Urban Outfitters **(Dress In Profile)** looked great with my silver pumps **(Also In Profile) **I put on a pair of silver hoop earrings and transferred my purse's contents into a Louis Vuitton tote bag. I opened the door and ran straight into Troy.

"Sorry!" I said, blushing.

"It's okay." Troy said, laughing. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." I replied, rubbing my nose.

"Well, let's go." Troy said and placed his hand on the small of my back.

Troy led me into the living room where Chad and Taylor stood waiting.

"Ready!" I exclaimed.

"Finally!" Chad said and walked over to the front door.

We walked out and saw a black Escalade parked in front of my house on the street.

"How'd this get here?" I asked as we walked down the green grass.

"Troy and I went and rented it for the time that we'll be here for the week." Chad said and opened the passenger seat door for me.

"Thanks." I said and climbed inside.

When everyone had climbed inside, Troy turned on the car and drove away from the house.

"What exactly are we doing tonight?" Taylor asked from the backseat.

"We're going to a club called Jade." I replied. "Sharpay and I like to go."

"Any celebrities?" She asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "That's where I met Jay Walker."

"Oh yeah." Taylor said. "I remember you telling me about dating him for a while."

"Turn here, Troy." I said and Troy turned onto Hollywood Blvd.

"Park here." I directed and Troy pulled the Escalade into an empty parking space. We got out and quickly crossed the busy street.

"Look at the red carpet!" Taylor exclaimed.

"The paparazzi take pictures even if you're not a celebrity." I told her.

"This is so exciting!" Taylor gushed as Troy entangled his fingers in mine.

"Taylor!" Chad said. "Chill!"

"I'm sorry!" She said. "This is just so cool!"

We finally reached the red carpet and stepped onto it.

"Here we go." I heard Troy say under his breath.

"I heard that." I replied as the cameras started to flash around us. Troy blushed.

When we reached the door, and showed the bouncers our I.D., we walked inside the busy club. Nelly Furtado's song, "Say It Right" blasted around us as we looked around the people filled club. A group of college guys passed us looking Taylor and me over and I felt Troy's hand tighten on mine.

"Come on." I told Troy, Chad, and Taylor and started to walk through the crowd and over to the familiar host.

"Gabriella!" The host, Casey, exclaimed when he saw me. He walked over and hugged me.

"You look gorgeous, as usual." Casey complimented as he held me away from him.

"Thank you!" I replied and grabbed Troy's hand again. "Casey, this is Chad Danforth, Taylor McKessie, and my boyfriend, Troy Bolton."

"I like this one the best." Casey said. "That Jay, movie star guy was just stuck up."

"Thank you for your opinion, Casey." I said to him. "Is Sharpay here?"

"Ready and waiting." He replied. "At your usual table."

"Thank you!" I replied and led everyone through the crowd and over to one of the booths along the wall. I immediately spotted Sharpay Evans' signature blonde hair, and walked up to the table and directed everyone to slide in while she checked her make-up in her compact mirror.

"Hey Sharpay!" I said.

"Hey Gabs!" She replied and applied her lip-gloss.

When she looked up, she squealed.

"Troy! Chad! Taylor!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well, we were in the neighborhood, you know, and decided to stop by." Chad said casually.

"You're not funny!" Sharpay said to Chad as she hugged him and then moved onto Taylor.

"You look great!" She exclaimed.

"You do too!" Taylor said to her as they embraced.

"No love for me?" Troy asked, grinning.

"If you insist." Sharpay said and hugged Troy.

After hugging me and insisting on ordering non-alcoholic drinks for all of us, Sharpay turned to Troy and me. Troy's arm was around my shoulders.

"Explain." She demanded.

Troy and I launched into the story of how we met again in Baja California. At the end, Sharpay could barely hold back her smile.

"What?" I asked as she tried her best not to give in to the smile.

"It's just so sweet!" She burst.

The song "Whine Up" by Kat DeLuna started and I turned to Troy and said,

"Come on! Let's dance!" I grabbed his hand and led him out to the dance floor. We moved to the beat together as we smiled.

"I'm gonna go get us some drinks." Troy said when the song had finished.

"Hurry back..." I said, kissed his cheek and walked back to the table.

"You two are smitten!" Chad said when I sat down.

"Where are Taylor and Sharpay?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Getting drinks." Chad replied.

"Cool." I replied. "And Troy and I are not 'smitten'."

"Yes you are." Chad replied, leaning back and taking a sip of his virgin Pena Colada.

"How so?" I asked.

"I saw you to stealing kisses on the dance floor." He said.

Before I could reply, Troy, Taylor, and Sharpay sat back down.

"Thank you." I said when Troy handed me the drink. I could see Chad smiling out of the corner of my eye as Troy's arm made his way around my shoulders.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A few hours later, we all decided to head back to the house.

"Bye Sharpay!" Taylor said and hugged her.

"It was amazing seeing you again!" Sharpay said to everyone as she hugged Troy and Chad at the same time.

"You too!" Chad and Troy replied at the same time and then burst out laughing.

"I'll meet you at the car." I said to Troy.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied. "I'll be fine."

When they had gotten out of earshot, I turned to Sharpay and asked,

"Did whatsername call you yesterday?"

"That secretary?" Sharpay asked as she eyed a guy on the dance floor. "Yeah. Why?"

"Troy has Lakers try-outs and I told him I'd be there and then that lady called." I explained.

"Just call and tell her that you can't." Sharpay said. "All she said that it was going to be is a photo shoot and paperwork."

"You think they'll be mad?" I asked nervously.

"Tell you what..." Sharpay said. "I'll call and cancel my photo shoot and then bring you the paper work at the STAPLES Center and we can fill it out together."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't want you to have to cancel anything because of me."

"Gabriella." She said bluntly. "I'll be fine."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed and hugged her.

"Wow!" She exclaimed.

"Now," I said. "Go get that guy you're staring at."

Sharpay smiled and walked out onto the dance floor.

I walked over to Casey, hugged him good bye, and then walked out into the late Los Angeles night. I spotted the black Escalade and saw Troy leaning against the driver's side door. I quickly crossed the busy street got in the car.

"Let's go!" I replied and Troy pulled out of the tight parking spot.

"That was so fun!" Taylor exclaimed as we walked in my front door.

"I'm tired." Chad said, yawning.

"You need help folding out the couch?" I asked him.

"Just a little." He replied between more yawns.

"Come on." I replied and walked into the guest room that Chad and Taylor were staying in. Taylor was sleeping on the bed and Chad on the fold out couch.

With not much of Chad's help, we folded out the couch and Chad immediately fell down and fell asleep.

"Chad asleep?" Taylor asked when I walked back out into the living room.

"Yeah." I replied and laughed.

"Well, I'm gonna go to sleep, too." Taylor said and walked into the room.

Troy and I walked into my room and I kicked off my shoes.

"I'm gonna go change." I said, shyly and walked into my bathroom. I quickly pulled on a pair of navy cropped Victoria's Secret sweatpants and a white tank top and then walked back into my room to find Troy already asleep on the couch without folding it out. I covered him up in a blanket, turned the light off, and crawled underneath the covers in my bed.

I woke up around 4 o'clock in the morning and craved ice cream. I got up and sleepily walked into the kitchen. I turned the light on and walked over to the fridge. I grabbed a pint of Ben and Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, a spoon, and sat down at the empty table. I slowly started to eat the cold cookie dough.

"Ice cream at 4 o'clock in the morning?" Someone asked. I looked up and saw Troy standing in the doorway, half asleep. I nodded.

"Nice." He said and took the spoon from my hand.

"What is it with you and stealing my food?" I asked and stole the spoon back.

"Is it a problem?" He asked and tried to take the spoon away from me.

"Yes." I replied and took another bite. Troy reached over and tried to steal the ice cream.

"Hey!" I exclaimed. He still tried to steal the tub. When I wouldn't give him the carton, Troy started to tickle me.

"Stop!" I said between laughs.

"Give me the ice cream!" Troy said.

"Fine! Fine!" I said and handed him the carton and the spoon.

"Thank you!" Troy replied and took the ice cream.

"Don't you have try-outs tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yeah...So?"

"Go to sleep." I said, took the ice cream from him, put it back in the freezer, and pointed to my room.

"Come on!" Troy said. "No!"

"Go!" I demanded, trying not to smile.

"I'm going." He finally said and I followed him back into my room.

"Good night." Troy said before finally falling back to sleep.

"Goodnight!" I whispered and fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Basketball and Forms

"Troy! Chad!" Taylor yelled as we sat in the kitchen at 6 o'clock the next morning. "Come on! We have to leave at seven!"

"I'm gonna go get dressed." I said to Taylor and set my coffee cup down on the table and walked into my room. I quickly took a shower and started to get dressed. I pulled on a pair of white jeans and walked into my closet. I pulled on a pink tank top and layered a brown flutter sleeve, scoop neck shirt and stepped into a pair of matching brown Mary Jane wedge heels. I let my hair fall around my shoulders in loose curls and applied my make-up. I walked back into the kitchen and found Troy and Chad digging through the fridge.

"You guys need to eat healthy." I reminded them as I poured some more coffee into my cup.

"This IS healthy." Chad said and held up box of Coco Puffs cereal.

"No..." I said. "This is." I took the box of cereal and handed both of them my usual breakfast choice- a fruit salad.

"Eat." I told them, handed them a fork and took another sip of coffee. "Are your bags ready?" I asked.

"You sound like an over protective mother." Chad said as he devoured the fruit salad.

"Ha. Ha." I said. "Well, are they?"

"Yes mother." Troy and Chad replied at the same time.

"Good." I replied.

"You guys are coming right?" Chad asked us as he ate.

"Yes." Taylor replied as she pulled her hair up.

"Because you know, we have nothing better to do than sit around the STAPLES Center all morning." I said and put my arms around Troy's waist, smiling.

"You guys ready to leave?" I asked.

"We've got like thirty minutes to get there." Chad protested.

"LA traffic." I replied and walked into the living room. "Let's go!"

"Coming!" Troy and Chad yelled. Taylor and I picked up our purses and opened the door. We all walked out to the Escalade and I opened the trunk. Troy and Chad threw their red East High Wildcats bags into the trunk. I climbed into the driver's seat as Taylor climbed into the passenger seat.

"Why do we have to sit in the back?" Troy complained.

"No reason." Taylor replied and I pulled away from the curb.

"Ugh!" Chad exclaimed when I slowed down behind a line of stopped traffic. "Traffic!"

"Told you!" I replied and leaned back against the seat.

"Can we have some music?" Taylor asked and turned on the radio. She started to scan through the radio stations.

"Something...not...not slow and mellow." Troy said. "Something happy and energetic."

"Yes master." I replied and turned the radio to one of LA's most popular stations. Ryan Seacrest's voice poured through the speakers.

"Good morning Los Angeles!" He said. "Here's Justin Timberlake's latest hit, "Love Stoned"!

"I love this song!" Taylor exclaimed and turned the radio up. We sang along to the seven minute song as the traffic sped up and we drove towards the STAPLES Center.

"We're here!" Troy exclaimed and sat up. I parked and we all got out. Troy and Chad looked nervous as heck as we looked at the large building. I threw my bag over my shoulder and grabbed Troy's hand.

"Come on." I said and tugged on his hand. "We need to get inside."

Troy and Chad gulped and nodded their heads. We walked into the building and saw at least twenty-five other guys standing around holding clipboards and talking about the try-outs.

"Welcome to the Los Angeles Lakers try-outs!" A way-to-cheerful lady exclaimed and handed Troy and Chad clipboards.

"Just fill these out." She said. "And good luck!"

Troy and Chad smiled nervously and nodded.

"Let's go sit down." Taylor directed and pushed Troy and Chad towards four empty chairs.

"Okay," Taylor said as we sat down in the chairs. "Let's see this."

"This looks fun." I said as I flipped through the forms.

"Oh yeah." Troy replied and started to fill out the forms.

After about ten minutes of sitting there in silence, I sat up and said,

"I'm gonna go get something to drink. You all want anything?"

Troy and Chad shook their head "no", and Taylor shook her head "yes".

"Maybe some water." She said.

"Okay." I replied. "Be right back."

I walked over to a table set up with an array of foods and drinks and picked up a Styrofoam cup. I picked up the bottle of Evian water and started to pour two cups.

"Okay!" A coach yelled from the doors of the gym. "Let's go! Hit the gym and start working on the free throws!"

I quickly walked back over to Troy and Chad, who were throwing their bags over their shoulders.

"Nervous?" I asked Troy and hugged him.

"Just a little." He replied.

"You'll do fine." I told him and then kissed him lightly.

"Bye!" He said.

"Good luck!" I called after him. He smiled and they walked into the gym.

"Now what do we do?" I asked.

"We wait." Taylor replied and we sat down again.

For the next couple of hours, Taylor and I sat around and talked about random subjects.

When the guys finally emerged from the gym about 2 hours later, they were drenched in sweat.

"Wow, you guys look rough." I said as the stench of sweaty guys filled my nostrils. Troy and Chad just gasped for breath.

"I take it that the try-outs were tough." Taylor said.

"Just a tiny bit." Troy replied and gulped down the cup of water that I handed him. I coach came out of the gym and the guys ran back into the gym.

"This is gonna be a long week." I said and sat back down on the couch.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Finally, the end of the week came and Troy, Chad, Taylor, and I stood in the gym of the STAPLES Center. The four head coaches stood in the center of the gym, each holding clipboards.

"We all know that each one of you have worked very hard this week." One of them said and they began to call out names.

Then they only had two more names to call out.

"The next two people on the team are two of the strongest people at the tryouts this week." I squeezed Troy's hand. "Chad Danforth and Troy Bolton!" I felt Troy jump and hugged him.

"Congratulations!" I exclaimed and he and Chad ran up to the coaches, who handed them their bags and jerseys. Taylor and I clapped as they walked back to us.

"This is great!" Troy and Chad exclaimed as we walked out of the center.

"Well, we're very proud of you." Taylor said.

"Don't forget, we have the welcome dinner tonight." Chad said.

"Of course not!" I replied. "Let's go!"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: The Last Chapter

"I wish we could of ridden over with the guys." Taylor said as I drove my car towards the fancy restaurant where the Lakers dinner was being held.

"Me too." I replied. "I just hope I look okay."

"Gabriella, you look fine." Taylor reassured me.

"Okay," I said and pushed a loose curl behind my ear. My stomach immediately tied itself into knots as I parked across the street from the restaurant. I pulled down the mirror. I smoothed out my deep purple, tube top, knee length pencil dress, checked my loose up do, slipped into my silver open toe stilettos, and opened the car door. Taylor and I walked quickly across the busy street and over to the concierge waiting outside the restaurant.

"Name?" He asked.

"Uh, we're here for the Lakers dinner." Taylor said.

"We're either under Bolton or Danforth." I said.

"Gabriella Bolton and Taylor Danforth?" He asked. Taylor opened her mouth to say something. I stopped her.

"Yes, that's us." I replied.

"Right this way." He said and led us into the beautiful restaurant. We followed him through the restaurant and into a private dining room. We looked around and spotted Troy and Chad standing at the far end of the room, on the other side of the small dance floor. We walked swiftly across the room and I linked my arm with Troy's.

"Hey, Gabs!" Troy said, moving his arm from mine and placing his hand on the small of my back.

"Hi, how's it going here?" I asked, looking around at the other basketball players standing around Troy and Chad.

"Good." They all replied. I smiled and took the glass of champagne from Troy and took a sip.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "I'm Gabriella, by the way."

"So you're the famous Gabriella?" One of the teammates asked. I felt myself blush.

"Yep, that would be me." I replied. I turned to Troy. "You've been telling me about me?"

"Just a few stories from East High." Troy replied and smiled.

"A few?" Chad asked. "Since you two met on New Year's Eve!"

"Quite an interesting story." I said.

"Hey," One of the other teammates said, "At least we now know some juicy stories to leak to the paparazzi when Troy becomes the LA Lakers god."

"That would be a very bad idea." Troy said.

"I think it's a perfect idea!" I exclaimed. "The country would probably love to see who Troy Bolton really is!"

"I'm happy with the world not knowing who I was in high school."

"Come on!" Chad said. "Even when you sang in the musical, you were still the most popular guy in the whole school!"

"Hey, it's okay that you were a musical person." The other teammate said. "But you might have to hit a note in the locker room one day."

"That is not going to happen." Troy said.

"That is exactly what you said when you said you were not going to try out for the musical." I said.

"And we see how that turned out." Chad said bluntly and gulped down the rest of his champagne.

"Hey man!" Troy exclaimed. "That was harsh." Chad opened his mouth for a comeback, but Taylor covered his mouth with her hand.

"That's enough." She said. A bell rang out and a voice came out from a microphone on the small stage.

"Dinner is served." A small man in a tuxedo said. We walked towards the individual tables and then sat down.

As we sat down in the table, Troy reached over and whispered to me,

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you!" I whispered back and placed the linen napkin on my lap. Waiters came from the kitchen bearing fine China. Plates of spicy tuna tartar were placed in front of us and our champagne glasses were refilled.

"This stuff is amazing!" Troy exclaimed as he devoured the small appetizer in one bite.

"Do you even now what it is?" I asked him as I took dainty bites.

"This is amazing!" Chad exclaimed as he too, devoured the appetizer.

"You guys are impossible." Taylor exclaimed as the 2nd course was brought to us.

"I think I'll pass on this." Troy said as he looked in disgust at the spinach salad.

"What?" I asked, taking a bite. "It's just spinach."

"That's the thing." Troy replied. "It's spinach."

"Your loss." I replied and finished my salad.

After an elaborate dinner of Braised Short Ribs and a Crème Brule, the coach walked up onto the stage.

"This has been an amazing week and we have had an amazing group of young men join our team." He said. "I would now like to introduce a fellow basketball coach. He may not coach an NBA team, but he still coaches one of the best teams in the United States. He is also a very good friend of mine, Coach Jack Bolton, coach of the East High Wildcats!" Troy's eyes widened as his father walked up onto the stage and shook hands with the coach. He walked up to the microphone and looked out into the crowed.

"Is there someone other than my wife with the last name Bolton?" He asked. Troy's face turned bright red as he partially raised his hand. The teammates snickered as Coach Bolton continued to talk.

"How many people know what a team actually is?" He asked. "I can assure you that my Wildcats do know that. My team went through a rough time a couple of years ago when two of your fellow Lakers were juniors. Two weeks before our championship game, and our team starts to fall apart. The Wildcats did not support one another. One wanted to sing and one wanted to bake. My meaning of telling you this is that you have got to stick together. If one person is weak, your whole team falls apart. If one is going through a rough time, the whole team is affected. A team is not just one person, its more than just one, it's everyone! Guys if you have a problem just take it to the team and then become brothers and then have to fall on each other and trust everyone. Thank you!" He walked off the stage and then the coach walked back onstage.

"Thank you, Coach Bolton!" He said. "Now everyone, let's dance!" Chairs screeched on the floor as we got up and walked towards the dance floor.

"Troy!" Coach Bolton exclaimed as he and his wife, Anna walked towards us.

"Dad! Mom!" Troy exclaimed and hugged them both. "You both remember Gabriella Montez, don't you?"

"Of course!" Anna replied and embraced me. "How could we forget?" I laughed.

"It was nice to see you again!" I exclaimed as Troy drug me out to the dance floor. I placed my hand on his shoulder and then took his hand in mine. We swayed gently as we danced to an instrumental version of Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry".

"I love you, Troy Bolton." I said and gently kissed him.

"I love you too, Gabriella Montez." He replied and kissed me back.

I looked into his eyes and then was washed back into memories of high school.


End file.
